Subscribe

Govt moves in on cable thieves

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 11 Sept 2015
Sacci's theft barometer shows cable theft losses increased from R12.6 million in March to R13.6 million in April.
Sacci's theft barometer shows cable theft losses increased from R12.6 million in March to R13.6 million in April.

The gradual rise of copper cable theft in SA has prompted Cabinet to approve a Bill that aims to curb cable theft and any vandalism to infrastructure of state-owned enterprises (SOE).

Copper cable theft affects electricity supplies, water supplies, telecommunications and trains, with SOEs such as Eskom, Telkom and Transnet reporting losses running in the tens of millions of rands.

Last year, the City of Johannesburg noted it loses around R30 million each year to cable theft.

Although cases of cable theft are often reported, which result in arrests and hefty fines for the perpetrators, up until now, cable theft was not classified as a serious crime.

The constant cable theft, however, has forced president Jacob Zuma and his Cabinet to approve a Bill that regards cable theft as a serious crime and an economic offence.

Mega losses

SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) COO, Peggy Drodskie, says based on the three companies that are used to measure the effects of cable theft in SA, cable theft is a serious problem.

Sacci's copper theft barometer, which measures theft from Eskom, Telkom and Transnet, shows an increase of losses to R13.6 million in April from R12.6 million in March.

"Recent estimates put the loss to the economy between R5 billion and R7 billion per year; a loss the economy can ill afford," says Drodskie.

Meanwhile, fixed-line operator Telkom has also noted major service outages to its services are often caused by lightning, rain and predominantly cable theft.

To deal with cable theft, Telkom announced in March it will migrate its low-cost voice solution away from a copper-based connection to a wireless fixed-line-look-alike.

Telkom communications head Jacqui O'Sullivan explained the fixed-line prepaid voice-only service traditionally provided on copper lines was challenging to maintain as a low-cost form of high-quality.

"Moving away from fixed-line copper cables will reduce the impact of lightning and rain on our infrastructure. In addition, by replacing copper cables with an alternate technology, we remove the element that is attracting copper cable thieves into our communities," said O'Sullivan.

"The regular replacement of copper cables is time-consuming and wasteful, particularly when the likelihood of a repeat theft is very high," she added.

Serious offence

On Thursday, Zuma announced Cabinet had approved a Bill that will fight the theft of copper, cables and metal from the country's SOEs.

Government's move to approve such a Bill comes after numerous calls from Sacci, SOEs and other government departments for cable theft to be reclassified as a serious crime, allowing courts to pass heavy sentences on anyone found guilty of cable theft. Sacci previously noted the current legislation needs to be interrogated, to determine whether copper cable theft has been designated as a high priority crime.

According to Zuma, the Bill seeks to regulate bail in respect of essential infrastructure-related offences and introduce minimum sentences for cable theft.

"Cabinet has approved a Bill that has now been submitted to Parliament. It will introduce changes to two laws, the Criminal Procedures Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act," said Zuma.

This will now mean the disruption of infrastructure will no longer be regarded as a minor crime. "It is a serious economic offence," he noted.

Welcome move

Drodskie points out that government's move to improve sentencing on copper theft means it recognises copper theft as economic crime.

If a thief was caught with 3m of copper cables, they would receive a fine that is equivalent to the value of the copper that was stolen. However, the fine did not take into account the knock-on effect the theft would have on the economy, she says.

Drodskie notes cable theft hurts businesses and the economy. "Copper cable theft has negative and lasting effects on the country's economy. If SA is doing business with international companies and can't deliver because of copper theft, this paints the country as a negative and unreliable service provider."

Share