Copper cable theft in communities around Durban continues to rise as residents bear the brunt of power outages and water cuts due to cables being stolen. Frustrated residents have raised the common issue of scrapyards which they say is one of the contributors which lead to copper theft.
Imtiaz Syed, chairperson of the eThekwini Community Police Forum Cluster said: “We seem to be speaking of the same ills that affect us in many spheres of society. The question is who do we blame? Cable theft is the discussion and the impact on infrastructure, we must understand that a simple cable being stolen on a railway line will cause the entire line to become dysfunctional for days, bringing that segment of the economy to a standstill. Theft of copper pipes from properties along with meters, cameras and outdoor lights are being stolen daily but go unreported. Why are cases unreported? It’s quite simple, the challenge that communities face in order to go about opening up cases for these petty crimes become time consuming and laborious.”
Syed said he recommends that any person faced with these crimes contact 10111 or get a Incident Report (IR) number and ask for an estimated time of arrival (ETA). “SAPS will then come to you. Residents need to start doing their bit in reporting crime as SAPS only recognise crime that is reported. If a scourge of copper or metal theft occurs in an area and no one reports it, the scourge will not be curbed. We must start becoming proactive instead of complaining. These crimes are all tell tale signs of something to come of which we would be unable to solve in the months to come. As ACC, we have in this Council posed questions to Council addressing the issue,” added Syed. Zain Soosiwala, resident and co-founder of eThekwini Secure said that the issue is that police are not doing their job enough to get the thieves detained until the case is opened. “When a suspect is apprehended while in the act of commissioning crime and he is caught with the goods, he needs to be detained for 48 hours in the section 36 until the municipality is contacted and the case is open. Right now the issue we are facing is catch and release, we have had over 60 meters being stolen in Morningside, Musgrave and Berea and it is not going to end until the police get their act together,” said Soosiwala.
Soosiwala added that there is a need for more interaction between the municipality and the police to ensure that stolen water meters are reported and the police are made aware that the property belongs to the municipality and needs to be returned to them. Overport resident, Azhar Bennett said that copper pipe theft has been an ongoing issue for many years in most communities across the country. “What fuels theft of copper pipes are legal and illegal scrap yards who buy these items from the unidentified sellers. They completely disregard where or how the copper or scrap metal had been obtained from the seller. I advise residents to change their copper pipes to cross-linked polyethylene flexible tubing, PEX or PVC if they can, or add in extra security measures such as higher walls or effective fencing,” said Bennett.
What fuels theft of copper pipes are legal and illegal scrap yards who buy these items from the unidentified sellers…
Ward 31 Councillor, Remona Mckenzie said that there has been an increase in the vandalism of the infrastructure as a result of copper theft. “In my meetings with the local CPF members, it has been noted that there is a rise in theft of copper which is encouraged by selling to scrapyards. This can no longer go on because it affects residents who become victims of water and power cuts. You find water gushing out in most areas as a result of this. I urge the residents to take precaution and report theft of copper in order to curb it,” said McKenzie. Constable B Phungula, Sydenham communications officer said: “The issue of copper theft is affecting residents because they are left with no lights and water and costs the municipality to replace them.”
