ON Sunday, May 15, a glass company in Doonside reported that a quantity of aluminium had been stolen from their premises. Community Crime Prevention Organisation Amanzimtoti’s (CCPO) George Snodey said the CCPO teamed up with Amanzimtoti SAPS, Blue Security – Durban, and ET Rapid Response and recovered the stolen property. The suspect was arrested by SAPS. On Thursday, May 12, Snodey said the CCPO got a call from a Doonheights resident about a suspect carrying what looked like stolen cable.

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“We were at the scene quickly and managed to convince the suspect to take us back to where he had stolen it from. The resident, a non member of the CCPO, wasn’t at home when we arrived at his home at Karridale Drive where the suspect had cut the cable in the yard. Officers arrived and took the suspect to Amanzimtoti SAPS where he was charged and detained,” said Snodey.

Both incidents come shortly after Minister of State Enterprises Pravin Gordhan recently proposed that there should be a ban on the export of scrap metal in order to curb the theft of metals and cables in the country.
Gordhan suggested that thieves would not steal cables and other metals if they knew there was no market for it.
Metal Recyclers Association’s (MRA) Rachelle Bezuidenhout has, however, said they oppose Gordhan’s proposal as a lot of livelihoods would be impacted.

“We do not support an export ban as this will negatively affect those within the sector who conduct themselves lawfully and those conducting themselves illegally, will continue to do so,” she said.

To fight against the crime, she said the MRA continually provides members with updates on suspected stolen goods and infrastructure materials which are susceptible to theft. Members are also constantly updated with educational posters on crime prevention.

Cable thieves have hit Amanzimtoti heavily over the past months, leading to the CCPO to install a guard at the Doonside Eskom sub-station after it was targeted a number of times. Snodey said the CCPO would only be able to do this as a temporary measure because of limited resources.

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