Newcastle police have recovered a large haul of stolen copper, valued at an estimated R1 million, and arrested one man. The recovery follows a brazen copper cable heist where a gang of approximately 20 armed men stormed Transnet’s security office.
Lizzy Arumugam, a spokesperson for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Newcastle, reported that the gang forced their way into the security operations room. “They cut the lock and chain on the main door, they confronted the night operations commander on duty and holding him at gunpoint they disarmed him of his 9mm pistol, before proceeding to steal a large amount of copper cable,” she said.
A security officer at a monitoring post who witnessed the robbery immediately alerted a controller, who then contacted the police. A car chase ensued on Madadeni Road, resulting in the SAPS Dog Unit intercepting a white Isuzu truck carrying the stolen cable. The driver was taken into custody, while the injured security guard received medical treatment at the scene before being taken to Newcastle Mediclinic. Arumugam added that “further police investigations into the matter are now underway.”
The theft of copper has been a persistent problem in and around the Newcastle community, with organised metal theft posing a significant risk to businesses and infrastructure. This recent incident is one of several successful operations by law enforcement.
On 30 June police and security companies arrested seven suspects believed to be part of a syndicate targeting underground copper cables. Imraan Ghafoor of the Newcastle Crime Fighters Task Team said the operation, codenamed “Operation Tunnel Buster,” was the result of weeks of intelligence gathering. The team was monitoring a group of criminals allegedly stealing copper from critical infrastructure using underground tunnels. The team acted when the suspects tried to flee, intercepting two vehicles and recovering 90kg of copper.
Just one month earlier, on 14 May police recovered stolen copper cables valued at R300,000 and arrested one suspect after foiling a late-night theft by a copper syndicate targeting railway infrastructure.
The widespread theft of copper cable and other forms of metal from public infrastructure poses a severe threat to South Africa. According to Niko Allie, Deputy Director of the Communication Resource Centre at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the economic damage from copper theft alone is estimated to be more than R45 billion annually.
Allie said: “Metals theft impacts on power supply, which often plunges suburbs into darkness, it leaves trains unable to operate and causes massive damage to public facilities throughout the country.” He also noted that metal theft impacts business confidence and causes a massive reduction in South Africa’s low-cost rail advantage. “When the power goes off because of metals theft it disrupts essential services such as power supply to hospitals, businesses and homes,” he said. “It often causes damage to infrastructure, which must be replaced at great cost, and inconvenience to citizens.”
