However, this only treats the symptom, not the cause. Police estimate cable theft costs the economy 5 billion rand ($320 million) a year. In mining areas, the sparse security means that thieves can drive a truck right up to the electrical substation or control panel, cut the cable and attach it to the vehicle’s tow-bar and rip the cable right out of the ground. In the mining sector, for example, sites can span large geographic areas over dozens of square kilometres or more, and the cost of installing fencing and employing patrols and CCTV operators can quickly rack up. So, what measures have companies used to tackle the problem? South Africa is experiencing almost 200 instances of cable theft per day. Eskom’s senior manager for maintenance and operations in Gauteng, Motlhabane Ramashi, said copper cable theft cost the power utility between R5 billion and R7 billion a year. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Two decades on, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that cable theft costs the economy between R5-7 billion a year. Many sites combine this with CCTV and even offer financial incentives for information about cable theft. Copper cable theft The parastatal explains that “the arrests took place after a member of Eskom’s investigation team noticed a disturbance at a nearby farm fence and decided to keep an eye on the scene. An additional period of imprisonment of 2 (two) years was imposed and suspended for 5 (five) years on certain conditions. RELATED STORIES . Copper theft cripples South Africa's railways, leaving commuters waiting By Mfuneko Toyana and Siyabonga Sishi 11/13/2020 A Delta passenger who jumped out of … Copper Theft (2001) - In South Africa, thieves are stealing large amounts of cable from companies such as Telecom. This after three people were due in the dock on Monday morning after they were caught with more than R2.6 million worth of copper stolen from South Africa’s railway lines. When South Africa shut large parts of its economy and transport network during its COVID-19 lockdown, organised, sometimes armed, gangs moved in to its crumbling stations to steal the valuable copper from the lines. On arrival, they discover that one of the cables in the cabinet is cut and telephone handsets are strewn on the grass. It’s not the man on the streets making the big money,” he said. In that case the appellants were convicted for theft of copper cable worth R18 000,00. From power cuts to network downtime, cable theft knocks out traffic lights, delays trains, plunges whole neighbourhoods into darkness, and cuts off critical communications. The South African power utility has disclosed that two suspects were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal last week on charges related to copper cable theft. According to South African Police Services, copper cables are mainly stolen from the mines, Transnet, Telkom, Eskom and municipalities. The theft and damage of copper cable has directly cost South Africa about R265 million, with indirect costs coming close to R5 billion, says Deputy Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Andries Nel. It mostly involves the theft of copper cable from mines, pipelines, railways, telecoms and electrical utilities. Frustrated with random power outages? On a good day, trains on just seven of Metrorail’s 34 commuter lines make the trip out of the Soweto township to the economic capital Johannesburg. For most companies it means investing in security; physical fences and barriers, and visible patrols and guards. It seems criminals have broken into the panel and cut the wire to make illegal international telephone calls as part of an elaborate scam. “The kingpins, they’re the ones doing it for profit. Flexicor Cables (Pty) Ltd is one of the largest cable manufacturers in South Africa specializing in Water Cooled and Air Cooled Copper Conductors for all types of Furnaces and Transformers. Charity Motsai, 49, says the drop-off in customers almost drove her “spaza” shop, that sells crisps, cigarettes and household goods, into the ground. It’s diabolical,” Harris told Reuters. By Mfuneko Toyana and Siyabonga Sishi. The purpose of this study was to gather relevant data to underpin and to identify the nature of copper cable theft in Gauteng as the economic hub of South Africa and to understand which specific risk factors inhibit the mitigation of copper cable theft. Sometimes they come with guns, AK-47s. Nel was addressing a National Council of Provinces debate on vandalism and theft of service delivery infrastructure and its impact on the economy … Thieves arrive here daily to take cable, so we’ve made our own plan. Because South Africa uses load shedding, or rolling blackouts, to manage electricity supply and demand - and the schedules for these planned outages are made public - thieves time their robberies down to the minute. For the company who has been a victim of this theft, it will cost ten times that to replace the cable and repair the critical infrastructure. A fact that the criminals know all too well. The typical alarms used in these situations register the power cut as a false-positive, meaning that the mine owner doesn’t realise the cable has been stolen until much later. Now, more than two months after that lockdown ended, the commuter rail system, relied on by millions of commuters, is barely operational. There needs to be a wider effort across industry, law enforcement and government to eliminate the problem. Trains in Cape Town have only resumed limited operations. November 14 2020 12:20 AM. The stolen metal ranges from copper cables, piping, bolts to manhole covers. Data was collected from literature sources as well as from security professionals combating copper theft. However, the problem with these systems is that they fail to distinguish between a genuine power outage and a criminal who has cut the wire. To explore and to describe the extent and the impact of copper cable theft. This story, which was broadcast in a special assignment by the SABC TV network in late October 2001, highlights just how prevalent and damaging cable theft is. There were only 274,000 passenger rail journeys in July, down from 5.5 million trips in March, according to Statistics South Africa. A full range of other products like, Braids, Braided and Laminated Flexibles, Copper and Aluminium Strands, small & large, are produced to customer design and specifications. “The government has allowed this to happen,” Doporo, 25 says, staring across the empty platform at cables dangling from pylons outside. According to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s copper theft barometer, copper theft costs the economy between R5 billion ($415 million) and R7 billion ($581 million) a year. In another incident, on Monday, the metro police's newly launched integrated intelligent operation centre (IIOC) arrested five suspects for cable theft. SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - Hloni Doporo stands on a platform in Soweto’s Orlando Station, waiting for a train that may never come because thieves have stripped away most of the power cables. Theron said escalating copper cable theft led to residents protesting over the lack of electricity supply. Richard Chelin, an organised crime researcher at the Institute For Security Studies SA, said syndicates eyeing higher copper prices were driving the cable theft surge. Using technology alone to find a solution is not adequate because crime is a socio-economic challenge and not a technical problem. The team is still investigating when one of the security officers receives a phone call alerting them of an alarm that’s been triggered just down the road. Stranded, without phone connections or transport? Microchip PIC18F-Q41 Sensor Interface Microcontrollers, A selection of Cables/Connecting articles for further reading, Malasia Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Mouser and Molex produce medical resource site, Reverse polarity RP-SMA connector assemblies for antenna, Connectors on rapid delivery times with access to specialist tech and sales teams, Pre-configured FAKRA cable assemblies for automotive, NEC takes on Palau Cable 2 optical submarine cable, Ruggedised connectors deliver data rates of 10Gbps, MIL-SPEC-qualified covers for 38999 series IV connectors, Smaller, faster, better connector solutions at CES 2021, M12-Mini cable connectors with cable gland certified, SUCOFLEX 500 cable assembly facilitates 70GHz at EuMW. State-owned railway operator, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, did not respond to requests for comment. The estimated loss due to copper theft … Cable theft has plagued South African industry for decades, and is an issue that requires much more than technology to solve. Copper theft leaves South Africa’s railways crippled. This means that in the event of a power outage, the Silent Sentry detects whether a cable has been cut, continues to run on battery power, and sends SMS alerts to the owner. State-owned railway operator, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, did not respond to requests for comment. Cable theft in Tshwane (the municipality in South Africa in which Pretoria is situated) has been reduced through the implementation of a holistic strategy. Two decades on, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that cable theft costs the economy between R5-7 billion a year. The copper cable was identified as Prasa cable. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. The theft continuously disrupts and degrades services, such as the power supply provided by Eskom and the telecommunication services by Telkom. According to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) copper theft barometer, copper theft costs South Africa’s economy between R5 billion ($415 million) and R7 billion ($581 million) a year and replacing stolen copper cables alone costs Eskom in the region of R2 billion ($166 million) a year. Appellants 1, 2 and 4 were sentenced to 5 (five) years imprisonment and the third appellant to 6 (six) years imprisonment. They wait until the power goes out and then strike, stealing the cable and making their getaway before the power comes back on. This is an acceleration of a decade-long trend. Although many cable thieves are apprehended, only 7% of offenders are prosecuted because of the difficulty of proving cable ownership. 320 days ago It's Wednesday night in Amanzimtoti on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and two members of the private security firm hired by Telkom, a major telecoms provider, head out to investigate an alarm that’s been triggered. In the pitch black, they use torches to explore the bushes off the main road, and a few minutes into the search, a security guard finds the problem - 500 metres of copper wire has been ripped out. The estimated loss due to copper theft is approximately R5 billion per year with eThekwini Electricity contributing R60 million to that loss. It weighed 750kg in total and has a … When South Africa shut large parts of its economy and transport network during its COVID-19 lockdown, organised, sometimes armed, gangs moved in to its crumbling stations to steal the valuable copper from the lines. Steve Harris, the secretary general of the United National Transport Union (UNTU), says it is more. Laingsburg police recover copper cables worth R100 000 Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Laingsburg also arrested six suspects for cable theft … The agency did confirm the surge in cable theft during lockdown in a report to parliament in October. A CRIMINOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COPPER CABLE THEFT IN GAUTENG BY WILLIAM LYON PRETORIUS Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of MAGISTER OF ARTS in the subject CRIMINOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF JH PRINSLOO DECEMBER 2012. ii DECLARATION I, William Lyon Pretorius, Student number … Despite this, Ian Loudon, International Sales and Marketing Manager at Omniflex, explains how advances in remote monitoring are giving businesses a fighting chance. To gain insight into the profile and … The criminals on the ground are a small part of a much wider problem that requires enforcement across the scrap-metal supply chain. These are electrical devices that alert the mine owner when the power goes out - a potential sign that the cable has been cut. Cable theft is a major problem in South Africa – with a huge impact on the overall economy. Most days these days the video producer walks to work, despite the threat of street muggings. The disruption of Africa’s longest railway system threatens a vital piece of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “Marshall Plan” to revive growth through reliable infrastructure. Even today, they’re digging up cable,” says Motsai. The City’s MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Mpho Moerane, recently welcomed an eight year prison sentence handed to a copper cable thief in Turffontein. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimate that cable theft cost the economy between R5 billion and R7 billion per year. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. One popular option in recent years has been the use of alarms that detect a system power failure. It mostly involves the theft of copper cable from mines, pipelines, railways, telecoms and electrical utilities. Metal theft in South Africa is rampant, with an estimated R 5 billion per annum lost due to the theft. The agency did confirm the surge in cable theft … State-owned railway operator, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, did not respond to requests for comment. This is a GSM-based, battery powered Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) that monitors to see whether the cable circuit is open or closed, unlike other alarm systems that simply look for the presence or absence of power. There are five primary objectives in this research: 1. This dissertation focuses on the phenomenon of copper cable theft within the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Omniflex understood this problem better than most and recently developed the Silent Sentry. International India. Recovered stolen copper cable / Image: TheSouthAfrican A Johannesburg man will be spending the next eight years of his life in prison after being convicted for cable theft in Turffontein. South Africa is facing a major problem with copper theft and has a negative impact on all citizens. People pull a cable at the vandalised train station in … Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana and Siyabonga Sishi; editing by MacDonlad Dzirutwe and Andrew Heavens. Replacing stolen copper cables, alone, costs Eskom in the region of R2 billion ($166 million) a year. 2-min read. South Africa had minimal reserves of copper, yet as much as 3000 tons of copper left Cape Town harbour every month. 2. … Why do people steal cables? It weighed 750kg in total and has a scrap value of R55,500, he said. “We’ve never seen the rail system in this state. “We’re lucky to be open ... but it’s dangerous. The thefts have already had a direct impact on businesses at Orlando station. SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - Hloni Doporo stands on a platform in Soweto's Orlando Station, waiting for a train that may never come because … However, for many sites these measures are prohibitive. Cable Theft Zero tolerance on cable theft South Africa is facing a major problem with copper theft and has a negative impact on all citizens. Annual train trips fell threefold, from about 634 million in 2010 to 208 million at the end of 2019, mainly down to the increasingly unreliable train service. Had the thieves managed to get away with the cable, they would have melted down the cable to remove the plastic insulation and sold it to a scrapyard for around 900 Rand, or about $50. 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