City Power’s Essential Infrastructure Task Team has intercepted a truck laden with stolen copper cables worth more than a million rand along the N3, outside Alexandra in Johannesburg.
Two suspects have been arrested.
City Power said – acting on a tip-off – the team intercepted the articulated truck before it could reach a scrap metal dealer.
“Tons and tons of copper cables and bars with an estimated value of R1.2 million, were recovered from the truck and the two suspects were arrested,” said Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson on Monday.
“City Power teams positively identified most of the copper cable as belonging to City Power.”
Mangena said the arrest of the two suspects represents another milestone in the fight against the “rampant theft of our cables and other essential infrastructure”.
Between Friday and Sunday night City Power said it recorded at least 15 incidents of cable theft across the City.
City Power urged residents to report any suspicious activities around the electricity infrastructure, or known cable thieves to the nearest police by calling 10111, or send a WhatsApp message to City Power Risk Control on 083 579 4497
In a related development, Trade Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel will on Tuesday brief the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry on the draft policy proposals on Scrap Metals.
The policy proposals are aimed at addressing widespread theft of copper cable and other forms of metal from public infrastructure that has crippled power supplies, left trains unable to operate and damaged public facilities in many parts of the country.
The proposals have been developed following consultations by the Departments of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), Police, National Treasury, Mineral Resources and Energy, Public Enterprises (including state-owned enterprises), and Transport and published in the Government Gazette by Minister Ebrahim Patel on 5 August 2022.
