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 n 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.”
Cape Times