Recently, the Gautrain experienced similar problems when its copper cables were stolen.
“Government needs to implement harsher penalties for cable thieves and must make sure it’s not so easy to benefit from copper theft,” says Gautrain spokesperson, Errol Braithwaite.
The South African Chamber of Commerce (SACCI) released a report stating that cable theft has decreased, but the problem still persists.
“The incident which occurred at Gautrain is a clear indication of the extent to which copper theft causes disruptions of economic activity. Fortunately, the outlook for copper theft levels for 2014 remains relatively positive, but the only concern is that it could be falling into a persistent crime incidence level.
“The past year has seen several direction changes in the level of copper theft, so the latest lateral movement may strengthen the view that copper theft may be stabilising at levels just above R10-million per month,” says SACCI CEO, Neren Rau.
He adds that the incident is a clear indication of how copper theft affects the economy.
“The metro has established a copper theft task team where the EMPD and external security service providers are tasked with ensuring thieves are caught and prosecuted,” says metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe.
He adds that cable theft is counter-productive when it comes to service delivery in Ekurhuleni, as it causes damage to expensive infrastructure.
“Normally, the distribution networks makes provision for ring-feeding on the cable network but, in some cases, both legs of the ring are affected by theft, and this leads to a delay in the restoration of power.”
He explains that the restoration of power after a cable theft depends on the damage caused by the incident and the length of cable stolen.
