Very few areas in Africa remain untouched when it comes to copper cable theft. It affects electricity supplies, water supplies, telecommunications, rail transportation, and comes with a hefty price tag.

A small farming community in South Africa’s Cape Town is an example of this. The area Schaapkraal, which is known as a copper cable theft hotspot, costs local government ZAR800 000 on average per month to repair electricity infrastructure. In fact, technicians are called out to the area on a near-daily basis, spending up to six hours at a time carrying out repairs, according to a Business Tech report.

This is, however, just one part of a much bigger problem being experienced across the country. Statistics released by the City of Cape Town’s Metals Theft Unit shows that copper theft increased by 26% last year and costs South Africa roughly ZAR5 billion a year.

15 September 2015
Image: IstockPhoto