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Cable theft in South Africa: what is being done
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The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
No matter what you do, thieves will always find ways and means to get their cable.
CeeBee
Expert Member
alternatives like fiber.... the cable thieves aren't exactly geniae either... had many instances in the area where copper dissappeared too often,... replaced with fiber.guys still cut it off and burn it on the spot.... "oh fk... nothing left"... damage still done, and connection still broken
at least only happens once on that stretch... until the new guys arrive
Did someone or something spell check this?
Problem with replacing stolen copper with FO is that the dumb thieves return and then rip up the cable only to find out, post the damage being done, it's FO! Often it's not feasable to reroute the cable!
Budza
Executive Member
Can you make FO orange and Cu black?
Something like that? Even so, they'll likely burn it out of spite. Our people are like that...
Something like that? Even so, they'll likely burn it out of spite. Our people are like that...
TheMightyQuin
Not amused...
Kill the market. If the thieves have no market to sell to, they will not steal cables.
TheMightyQuin
Not amused...
Can electricity be supplied via FO ?
Except the majority of copper being stolen are power transmission / reticulation cables. :/
Change to fiber will take 20 years and to much money not an option . legislation needs to be enacted to make copper theft the same as being in possession of uncut diamonds or unwrought gold and the man power to enforce the law ....but that wont happen ..no hope
Source
"Pervasive thefts of copper wire from under the streets of Fresno, California have prompted the city to seal thousands of its manhole covers with concrete. In Picher, Oklahoma, someone felled the town's utility poles with chain saws, allowing thieves to abscond with 3,000 feet of wire while causing a blackout. The theft of copper cables costs U.S. companies $60 million a year and the FBI says it considers theft of copper wire to be a threat to the nation's baseline ability to function. But now PC World reports that a U.S. company has developed a new cable design that removes almost all the copper from cables in a bid to deter metal thieves. Unlike conventional cables made from solid copper, the GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel Cable consists of a steel core bonded to a copper outer casing, forming an equally effective but far less valuable cable by exploiting the corrosion-resistance of copper with the conductive properties of steel. 'Companies trying to protect their copper infrastructure have been going to extreme measures to deter theft, many of which are neither successful nor cost effective,' says CommScope vice president, Doug Wells. 'Despite efforts like these, thieves continue to steal copper because of its rising value. The result is costly damage to networks and growing service disruptions.' The GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel cable is the latest technical solution to the problem of copper theft, which has included alternatives like cable etching to aid tracing of stolen metal and using chemicals that leave stains detectable under ultra-violet light. However the Copper Clad Steel strikes at the root of the problem by making the cable less susceptible to theft by both increasing the resistance to cutting and drastically decreasing the scrap value."
"Pervasive thefts of copper wire from under the streets of Fresno, California have prompted the city to seal thousands of its manhole covers with concrete. In Picher, Oklahoma, someone felled the town's utility poles with chain saws, allowing thieves to abscond with 3,000 feet of wire while causing a blackout. The theft of copper cables costs U.S. companies $60 million a year and the FBI says it considers theft of copper wire to be a threat to the nation's baseline ability to function. But now PC World reports that a U.S. company has developed a new cable design that removes almost all the copper from cables in a bid to deter metal thieves. Unlike conventional cables made from solid copper, the GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel Cable consists of a steel core bonded to a copper outer casing, forming an equally effective but far less valuable cable by exploiting the corrosion-resistance of copper with the conductive properties of steel. 'Companies trying to protect their copper infrastructure have been going to extreme measures to deter theft, many of which are neither successful nor cost effective,' says CommScope vice president, Doug Wells. 'Despite efforts like these, thieves continue to steal copper because of its rising value. The result is costly damage to networks and growing service disruptions.' The GroundSmart Copper Clad Steel cable is the latest technical solution to the problem of copper theft, which has included alternatives like cable etching to aid tracing of stolen metal and using chemicals that leave stains detectable under ultra-violet light. However the Copper Clad Steel strikes at the root of the problem by making the cable less susceptible to theft by both increasing the resistance to cutting and drastically decreasing the scrap value."
Beri
Expert Member
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Stop the exporting of copper. All copper must be recycled in SA. It must be checked by an independant officer before it can be melted.
If you have to export then follow the above rules. If you are a scrap metal dealer and you can only buy and keep it in its original state. If you have melted copper you loose your export permit and your dealer permit. Identify 3 smelter in sa.
Only use one port to export scrap metal.
If you have to export then follow the above rules. If you are a scrap metal dealer and you can only buy and keep it in its original state. If you have melted copper you loose your export permit and your dealer permit. Identify 3 smelter in sa.
Only use one port to export scrap metal.
And lock it tight.
Avenue
Expert Member
I dont know much about it, but is there no way to coat the cables in something that cannot be burnt off and will mix with and taint the copper when melted? I dont suppose there will be much of a market in asia for copper jars with black specks
