Cape Times

Treat alarming metal theft as economic sabotage – City’s safety boss

THE City has recovered stolen metal weighing 1 839.41 kilograms, which translates to 54km or the distance between the Civic Centre in the CBD and Sir Lowry’s Pass in the past year.

“The scary thing is that for all the confiscate­d items, thousands of kilograms more made it to bucket shops and unscrupulo­us scrap dealers, and so fuelling a number of illicit trades,” said safety and security Mayco member JP Smith.

“The Metal Theft Unit has also recorded a marked increase in complaints attended to, compared to the previous year.

“It is a sign that the theft and vandalism of infrastruc­ture remains rampant, but also that more people are reporting it,” Smith said.

The unit executed 143 arrests between July 2023 and June this year compared to the 184 from July 2022 to June last year.

It also received more complaints (662) over the past year compared to the 464 received between July 2022 and June last year.

“The scale of the destructio­n becomes more evident when you consider exactly how much infrastruc­ture we’re losing and replacing, only to be lost again and again.

“This is not nickel and dime stuff, but economic sabotage, and we need to start treating it that way with swift prosecutio­ns and heavy sentences,” Smith said.

“Metal theft is on the long list of priorities that we hope to tackle through our co-operation agreement with SAPS and the Western Cape government.

“In addition, we will continue to use tools like our CCTV network, Eye in the Sky and infrared technology to tackle metal theft, but also continue to invest in training and inter-agency collaborat­ion,” he said.

In a bid to curb essential infrastruc­ture crime, the City joined the SAPS and National Prosecutin­g Authority in a joint two-day training session in August.

In the latest move, Transnet and SAPS recently signed a Memorandum of Understand­ing (MoU) to strengthen collaborat­ive efforts between them in the fight against theft and vandalism of essential infrastruc­ture across Transnet’s

logistics network.

Transnet Group chief executive Michelle Phillips said the signing of the MOU was a critical step forward in securing the country’s essential infrastruc­ture and combating organised crime.

“Our partnershi­p with SAPS has already yielded significan­t successes.

“One notable example is the dedicated support that SAPS provided to Transnet Pipelines where specialise­d resources helped us combat the theft and damage to our fuel infrastruc­ture.

“By working together, we can ensure the continued reliabilit­y and efficiency of our critical infrastruc­ture,” Phillips said.

National police commission­er Fannie Masemola said the MOU would ensure joint implementa­tion of optimised policing and security of Transnet’s critical and essential infrastruc­ture, among others.

“The protection of critical and essential infrastruc­ture is a priority for the SAPS, and a partnershi­p such as this one is greatly welcome.”