POLOKWANE – According to specialist investigator, Mike Bolhuis, currently, investigations show thieves are commissioned by scrap metal buyers to steal copper cables.
“Thieves consist of groups who cut live electric wiring with bolt cutters, also those who climb into storm water pipes and manholes to reach the thickest cables – once the cable is cut, a ground team strips it of its covering, while another team loads it on a vehicle for transport. The system is so efficient that thieves can steal approximately 2 km of cable within 5 minutes. This activity mostly takes place after midnight and usually goes undetected, until further inspection is made.
This practice is a major cause for concern as it is dangerous and people have been killed attempting to steal cables.
A few months ago, a young man was electrocuted in Westenburg while attempting to steal cables.
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“The South African public loses more faith in government institutions and resigns itself to power outages or “load-shedding” on a regular basis, rather than ascribing the lack of power to the actual cause,” Bolhuis said.
He said obviously, the direct effect is that residents have no power and this influences the efficiency of all dealings, from personal to business. Electric appliances are damaged and this leads to insurance claims which would otherwise not have arisen. Insurance companies lose copious amounts of money as a direct result of cable theft.
Over the past weekend, two electrical poles fell over and municipal workers basically had to stand guard to ensure the cables did not get stolen.
One of the contractors told Review a piece of cable could easily be sold for R50 000 which could cost the municipality four times that amount to replace it.
“It is my recommendation that stricter prosecution measures are put in place from the ground up to halt this crime. Thieves should be severely punished, as should corrupt foundry members and prosecuting officials,” Bolhuis added.
He said regulations with regard to the theft and sale of copper should be put in place. It should not be possible to sell your merchandise without legal proof of source.
Public awareness is key as this loss is at the cost to the public, and as such they should be made aware that the next ‘load-shedding’ incident may in fact not be as result of the ineptitude to Eskom, but rather as the result of some individuals who have put their own personal gain above the interest of the rest of the country.
Crimes like cable theft should be reported to the nearest police station as soon as possible.
