The Gautrain's operator says it cannot fight against copper theft alone, but needs the backing of government and other authorities, as the train was once again crippled by cable thieves this week.
Government needs to implement harsher penalties for cable thieves and must make sure it's not so easy to benefit from copper theft, says Errol Braithwaite, executive at Gautrain operator, Bombela Concession Company (BCC).
He says great assistance is needed from the authorities, since the Gautrain can only increase security, but this will not solve the problem. This comes after a second cable theft within a week brought the Gautrain to a halt.
Expensive elephant
Braithwaite says all the trains and buses are back on schedule and fully functional now. He would not provide figures for the cost of the cable theft, but says it's not the biggest loss.
“The actual cost of lost copper is negligible compared to the knock-on effect of the loss of service. When copper is stolen, whether it's from the Gautrain or City Power, the real loss is of productivity for the economy.”
In terms of dealing with the issue going forward, Braithwaite says it's a two-sided coin. “We've got to optimise security and preventative measures and the authorities need to make it more and more difficult to profit from stolen copper.”
He says government must raise the penalties for those caught stealing copper and must put legislation in place or amend the current legislation so that it's not so easy to benefit from stolen copper.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for transport in Gauteng Neil Campbell says if existing security measures are incapable of stopping cable theft, more security should be provided by the consortium.
“If not, the Gautrain will become nothing more than an exceedingly expensive white elephant.”
Economic sabotage
Braithwaite says it's difficult to say what the future holds in terms of whether cable theft will be a long-term problem. “But from the Gautrain side we will definitely enhance our security and work with the authorities on this matter. We need all the assistance we can get politically and from the legislation. We can't fight this battle alone.”
He also called on law enforcement agencies not to see this as petty crime.
Weak assurances
Campbell says the failure of the Gautrain in this manner is “disgraceful”. He adds that the DA expresses alarming concern at the second failure in less than a week.
“The excuse that cable theft is to blame has a hollow ring, especially when one considers that one of the most important questions posed to the department was - could the consortium deal with the high theft rate of copper products in SA?”
Campbell says assurances were given that cables would be buried under concrete, but it now seems the thefts were above ground and that not all cables are “thief-proof”.
He says the failure of the service between Sandton and Rosebank with the “excuse of technical difficulties” further complicates matters.
“This substandard service belittles the Gauteng taxpayer who has already poured R30 billion into this programme. We deserve a reliable service after spending so much taxpayers' money, not an additional bus service.”
And again
Overnight cable theft at a substation last Wednesday resulted in no Gautrain train service between Hatfield and Centurion. The same thing happened yesterday, when the train service was halted along the same route.
A secondary train service interruption also affected the line between Rosebank and Sandton stations between 05h30 and 10h30 yesterday.
The BCC says the origin of this disruption was a tunnel drainage pump alarm, which registered in the operational control centre.
“Standard safety procedures require that all such alarms be physically inspected before passenger services can commence in the affected area. As a result, train services had to be suspended.”
A press release issued by the BCC says the second copper theft incident took place in a different location to that which affected train services last week, but the same stations were affected.
BCC holds a 20-year concession to design, build, part-finance and operate the Gautrain. The company formed a public-private-partnership with the Gauteng Provincial Government for the project.
An emergency bus service was implemented between Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion stations to transport passengers affected by the cable theft incidents.
A total of 54 trains were cancelled due to the first cable theft incident, which took about seven hours to resolve, according to the Gauteng Provincial Government.
Xhead = Lucrative crime
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) says copper theft in SA has hit its lowest mark in a year-and-a-half.
It says its Copper Theft Barometer registered R14.37 million in June 2011, the lowest since January 2010.
The barometer measures and monitors copper cable theft in the country on a monthly basis. Copper theft so far this year amounts to R105.56 million.
Factors that contribute to the difficulty in combating non-ferrous metal theft include weak export control measures and poor inspection measures of containers, says SACCI.
It adds that increasing longer term price of copper and increasing demand both domestically and internationally make theft a lucrative illegal business.
SACCI in February reported that cable theft in SA cost Eskom, Transnet and Telkom R259 million in 2010.
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