The City of Cape Town has lauded the recent sentencing of a convicted cable thief to 15 years behind bars, hailing it as a step in the right direction in the fight against rampant cable theft.
The 55-year-old man was arrested by the City’s Law Enforcement Metal Theft Unit in Kraaifontein on 13 November 2023. He was found in possession of eight bags of stolen Transnet overhead copper cable weighing over 400 kilograms, with a street value of R558 000.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the city confirmed that the suspect was prosecuted in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015 and sentenced in the Blue Downs Regional Court in April this year.
“On the day in question, the Law Enforcement Metal Theft Unit received information about stolen overhead cables being stored at a property in Wallacedene. They spotted a male leaving the property in a red Opel Astra and followed him. When they stopped the vehicle along Voortrekker Road, officers found the copper cable,” the city said.
The suspect was taken to Kraaifontein SAPS, where a Transnet representative confirmed that the cable had been stolen.
The city described the 15-year sentence as one of the most significant outcomes resulting from an arrest by its enforcement units.
“Although, to be fair, we do not always know how the story ends, as there is no mechanism that ensures feedback on investigations and convictions. Even in this instance, we came to hear about the matter more than two months after it concluded, but it is welcome news nonetheless, and we commend everyone who had a hand in the successful conclusion of the case, starting with our Law Enforcement Officer who made the arrest,” the city said.
However, the city warned that cable theft remains a significant threat to essential services and infrastructure. In response, it has scaled up the Metal Theft Unit (MTU) in recent years, deploying more officers and technology such as drones, CCTV, and infrared cameras.
In the past 11 months alone, the MTU has made 126 arrests, recovered over a kilometre of stolen cable and nearly two tons of stolen metal. Officers have also completed 4 706 patrols in hotspot areas, conducted 1 573 scrapyard compliance inspections, responded to 501 public complaints, and issued 3 634 by-law fines.
“The illicit scrap metal trade is arguably one of the biggest challenges. We need greater intervention at national level to take the shine out of the trade, and we need consistently strong signals from the criminal justice system that this type of criminal activity won’t be tolerated,” the city added. – SAnews.gov.za
