Curbing cable theft through new classification

JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – A proactive approach to cable theft is being initiated by power distributors and the City of Johannesburg with the aim to slow down the theft of copper and saving the country billions of rands.

On October 7, City of Johannesburg reported on their website that Government was exploring a change in policy as a means to eliminating the scourge of cable theft.

Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Andries Nel, speaking at the 64th Annual Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) Convention at Gallagher Estate, said classifying copper cable as a precious metal is the main agenda at the ongoing discussions.

“We believe classification might slow down the scourge, which has cost the country dearly in lost revenue,” said Deputy Minister Nel.

Acting City of Johannesburg Mayor Matshidiso Mfikoe has called for cable theft to be classified as sabotage.

At the convention she said that cable theft was seriously hampering investment into the country and the economic growth of the city. “We have to find ways to combat it, we don’t want to see businesses closing and jobs being lost as a result of this. We are managing to curb it to a certain extent, and we have had an 88 per cent conviction rate.”

However, she added that these actions by no means meant they were effectively managing to deal with the problem of the thefts.

The deliberations of curbing the worrisome issue of power cable thefts are being held by a panel comprising the City of Johannesburg and other leading power distributors from Southern Africa.

According to reports, more than R300 million is lost annually to cable theft. This problem also costs the City of Johannesburg’s power utility unit more than R30 million a year.

Earlier in the year a truck with suspected stolen cables was seized by Booysens police in the area after the driver of the truck was unable to account for the copper cables he was transporting. According to police, the man could not come up with a reason how he came into possession of the cables. He was arrested.

Weeks before the truck was seized on June 8, parts of the South had been left in the dark without electricity due to power cable theft in Lenasia.