The police were on patrol at Clewer on Thursday, December 19. At about 19:00 they came across security guards who reported to them that they have caught three suspects. The suspects were caught after they were found with the stolen copper cables. The police then arrested the suspects.
The police investigated the matter and it was found out that the copper cables were stolen from South Witbank Mine. The suspects had used a Toyota bakkie, which was also confiscated by the police.
The suspects are between 32 and 45 in ages. They were then taken to the police station where they were charged with possession of suspected stolen property. Another cable was found abandoned, a short distance away from the crime scene.
Meanwhile its was reported from Cape Town that copper theft increased to a level of R9.5m in November. This the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) reported on Friday, December 13.
Copper theft stood at R9.2m in October 2013, said Sacci, the copper theft barometer.
Sacci said the November increase was the first since August last year and more likely to reflect an accounting lag than an actual increase.
The Copper Theft Volume Indicator increased to a level of 131 metric tons in November from 128 metric tons in October.
The international spot price of copper increased to a monthly average to date of about R73, 791 per metric ton in December 2013, from about R73, 365 in November.
Sacci said: “Over the past three years the January figure for copper prices showed a monthly increase, so it’s very likely that the figure might increase quite a bit in the beginning of 2014.”
Sacci CEO Neren Rau, said it looked as if copper theft was being curbed over the short to medium-term.
“Improved policing and moderate copper price movements should strengthen the downward trend in copper theft over the short term.”
It was also reported in Johannesburg that copper theft is costing the economy an estimated R5bn per year, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, as it released its first copper theft barometer in an attempt to reduce the costs of the crime on the economy.
“The barometer will measure and monitor the extent of copper cable theft in the country on a monthly basis (to raise) the general awareness of the crime,” said Peggy Drodskie, executive adviser to the Sacci CEO, in Johannesburg.
“The theft of copper is an important issue that does not bode well for the future of South Africa,” she said.
The R5bn includes only the replacement value and does not take into account security or labour costs, said Drodskie.
