Cable theft becoming increasingly difficult to crack down on

[Daniel Puchert]

South African copper theft disaster

Copper cable thieves are becoming more sophisticated and extreme in their methods, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to crack down on the R2-billion-per-year crime.

However, South Africa could harness new technologies to arrest the cost of the losses it causes.

 

[LCBXX]

This won't end because there is way too much money to be made through copper recycling.

Which means it is going to keep escalating until it becomes unsustainable. Not sure what happens after that.

 

[Jam Sandwich]

Maybe we coukd charge those thieving twats with high treason too...

 

[LCBXX]

Maybe we coukd charge those thieving twats with high treason too...

They're recycling, literally doing the wokest thing, ever.

 

[Rickster]

Change the cables from copper to aluminium, will help once they start to realise its not as heavy.

 

[deweyzeph]

“You don’t want to be in a tunnel when stealing a cable. Whether it’s live or dead, it’s a massive risk because you are grinding, and those sparks can start a fire,” he said.

I would argue that if you're prone to stealing vital infrastructure paid for with taxpayers money then perhaps a tunnel is exactly where you should be.

 

[lkswan747]

This won't end because there is way too much money to be made through copper recycling.

Which means it is going to keep escalating until it becomes unsustainable. Not sure what happens after that.

So in the eyes of the guvmunt, these are not copper thieves but copper recyclers, just as the electricity thieves are referred to as non buyers!

 

[Priapus]

Change the cables from copper to aluminium, will help once they start to realise its not as heavy.

We are moving away from using copper because we have seen that it is quite in demand, so whenever we have any cable that has been stolen, we do not replace it with copper,” Eskom’s Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi said in May 2024.

 

[joshuatree]

Steel Sal Hulle Steel.

 

[Bliksis]

Increasingly difficult? I think it's not more difficult than previously at all.

 

[elf_lord_ZC5]

South African copper theft disaster

Copper cable thieves are becoming more sophisticated and extreme in their methods, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to crack down on the R2-billion-per-year crime.

However, South Africa could harness new technologies to arrest the cost of the losses it causes.

Oh, really ... ,