Cops nab suspects with almost R3m stolen Eskom and Prasa copper cables

KwaZulu-Natal police have nabbed two suspects with almost R3 million worth of stolen Eskom and Prasa copper cables.

The duo were handcuffed during a compliance inspection operation by members of the Economic Infrastructure Task Team (EITT) at a scrapyard on Martin Drive in Queensmead on Monday.

Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said during the inspection, officers spotted two vehicles parked outside the scrapyard and upon searching them made the discovery.

“Police found copper cables which were positively identified to be belonging to the power utility, Eskom. After failing to explain the origin of the cables, a 37-year-old suspect was arrested. Another search inside the scrapyard also resulted in the recovery of more copper cables which belonged to PRASA and the second suspect, aged 39 years old, was also arrested.

“Both suspects appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Monday,” Netshiunda said.

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Cable thefts

The issue of copper theft came up in parliament last month when, in response to a question from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said 4 633km of copper cable had been looted between the 2020 financial year to the end of October 2023.

“I’m speculating, but this looks like we’re still paying the price for the Covid lockdown,” said DA public service and administration spokesperson Leon Schreiber.

“The trend [of copper theft] was already in evidence before then, but there seems little doubt that the lockdown accelerated this trend.”

Eskom copper theft is reckoned to cost R5-7 billion a year, plus another roughly R2 billion to replace stolen cables. That does not count the disruption of power supply to customers.

Transnet reported 1 121km of cable stolen in the 2023 financial year, a nearly eight-fold increase over five years. That’s the distance from Joburg to Harare.

The 1 121km stolen from Transnet in 2023 was a 26% improvement on the 1 506km stolen the previous year. The theft problem remained relatively mild until 2019 when things got out of hand. The number of cable theft incidents is nearly 4 000 a year, according to Moneyweb.

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