We have all at some stage arrived home to darkness.
We know how to use water from the swimming pool to flush our loo’s and we have a standby plan in place to pop up to the neighborhood wood-burning pizza place for dinner when we are left with no power or water.
We endlessly lament the municipalities or Eskom, but the truth is it’s not always their fault. Thieves are stealing the copper cables, which all utilities infrastructure is reliant on, quite literally from under our feet and over our heads.
Cable theft costs the economy, and you and I, an estimated R10 billion a year. The solution you ask? Well, according to Brigadier Bert Van der Walt of the Saps who I interviewed on my show “The Laws of Life” on cliffcentral.com, if there is no one to buy stolen goods it’s pointless for criminals to steal them. Enter the Second Hand Goods Act which forces scrap yards, pawn shops and any dealer in second-hand goods to be registered with the National Commissioner.The idea is to regulate the industry and get the good sellers to report any illegal activity in order to protect themselves and their businesses.
Everything bought or sold by these dealers have to be entered into a register, along with the details of the person buying or selling it. Dealers have a legal obligation to verify the seller’s identity. Section 21 places the onus on the dealer to ensure the person selling the the goods is who he says he is and that the contact details furnished are correct.
Dealers are being forced to be honest. If a dealer even suspects that something is stolen, they have to report it to the police immediately, preferably while the suspect is still on the premises, or they can face up to 10 years in prison. Police are also now entitled to enter the premises of any dealer during business hours to inspect registers of the dealers. If they are not satisfied that the register is a true reflection of the goods coming in, they can on the authority of a warrant search, seize or seal off the premises. In certain circumstances, search and seizure may even be conducted without a warrant.
So dodgy dealers beware, the government with the force of the police mean business. Is this the end to copper theft? Perhaps not yet, but it’s coming closer.
