Metal theft — the net could close if new draft policy is implemented

Failing power stations, delayed trains, faulty telecommunication grids and damaged public facilities have had a detrimental impact on public services and all have a common thread — copper cable and metal theft. 

Now the Departments of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), South African Police, Departments of Mineral Resources and Energy, Public Enterprises, and Transport have issued a government gazette draft policy open for public comment, by Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade and Industry to address the theft of infrastructure metals. 

The draft policy proposes a six-month prohibition of the export of scrap and waste metal including copper cable. It also calls for a permit system for the export of semi-processed metal products. 

Other measures include a registration system for scrap metal buyers and sellers, policing and law enforcement and limitations at ports and border posts used for trade, alongside changes in legislation that create difficulty in stolen copper and metal trading.



If implemented, South Africa will be part of an international response to metal theft. The prohibition on copper scrap exports has also been adopted globally by countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar, Argentina, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, while 17 other countries have implemented quotas and licensing requirements, with 13 countries imposing taxes. 

“The measures were developed following sustained damage to public infrastructure from criminal theft of electricity cables, power pylons, railway tracks, traffic lights and manhole covers that have reached crisis levels. Criminals are targeting public infrastructure that taxpayers have invested in to expand service delivery to communities across the country,” the DTIC said in a statement. 

Thieves have monetised metal by stealing from source, selling it to recyclers who process and purify the metal by separating it and then sell it to mills who further process it into finished products such as bars, sheets and wires. Once complete, these are sold to manufacturers that use them for products such as tools, cars, and computers, among other goods. 

Earlier this year in the State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the damage to vital resources was enormous, promising decisive steps through improved law enforcement and further steps to address the sale and export of scrap metals. 

Copper theft alone has cost the stretched South African economy more than R45-billion annually, a study by Genesis Analytics found. According to the DTIC, Transnet’s cable theft statistics have shown 123 attacks with almost 40km of copper cable stolen from the country’s rail infrastructure in April of this year alone. Annually, these numbers increased from an average of  120km to 724km of cable stolen, with incidents climbing from fewer than 2,000 to 4,500. 

A combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and global copper prices reaching record highs – ranging between $6,000 and $8,000 (about R100,00 to R130,000) per ton –  have contributed to the spike in cable theft, which is detrimental to essential services such as metro rail services that are relied on by millions of commuters. 

Read in Daily Maverick: Infrastructure under attack: Criminals ratchet up railway violence, says Transnet

Congress of South Africa Trade Unions has previously said cable theft was also affecting its workers as, “continuous train delays due to cable theft result in hundreds of thousands of workers being late for work or not able to make it to work. This often results in docked or reduced wages for them, reduced hours and work productivity, and an overall depressing effect upon economic growth, people and communities”. 

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa forks out about R1-billion a year to protect its infrastructure, the group CEO David Mphelo said earlier this year. 

Overhead railway cables hang suspended after thieves cut them off for cash for scrap at the Phefeni train station in Soweto. Photo / Shiraaz Mohamed