WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-03-15 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
Cable theft has cost Telkom more than R300-million in the past financial year and is costing the country about R5-billion annually, the telecommunications parastatal said on Thursday.
Thokozani Mvelase, acting executive for asset and revenue protection services at Telkom, said the company’s security-related costs from April 2006 to March 2007 amounted to more than R130-million.
The company also suffered a loss of more than R177-million after having to replace stolen cable and copper wire during that period.
The worst year for cable theft was 2001 when Telkom, Eskom and Spoornet reported 20 500 cases nationally, he said.
| ‘The public are encouraged to report any suspicious behaviour’ |
The direct impact on the three organisations amounted to losses of R268-million and the cost to the economy was estimated to be 10 times that amount.
After 2001, incidents declined until 2006, where they peaked again with 11 000 incidents reported nationally.
The replacement costs for 2006 are still being calculated.
Mvelase has called for more joint initiatives and the need for greater legislative powers to clamp down on cable theft.
He also raised concerns about the slow rate of convictions and the high number of repeat offenders.
| ‘An example of good collaboration is the police in KwaZulu-Natal’ |
“An example of good collaboration is the police in KwaZulu-Natal, which Telkom recently awarded for service excellence in combating the problem.
“Telkom works closely with the police there and the rate of arrests and recovery of stolen material has improved significantly,” said Mvelase.
Apart from working closely with the Non-Ferrous Theft Combating Committee (NFTCC) and the police, Eskom also has a national campaign to raise awareness about their crime-report line, 0800 124 000.
“The public are encouraged to report any suspicious behaviour,” said Mvelase.
NFTCC chairperson Leon van den Berg said South Africa was the world leader in addressing non-ferrous theft. The country advised other SADC countries experiencing similar cable thefts.
Van den Berg, a senior specialist in Eskom’s corporate security risk management department, said he believed that continued concerted efforts to deal with the crime could have positive results, as they have in Zambia.
Zambia introduced legislation which made vandalising the country’s power infrastructure tantamount to treason. Offences carry a minimum sentence of 20 years in jail.
In its latest clampdown on copper cable theft, Cape Town will place a moratorium on the sale of all council-owned cable and copper products, meaning that no one will be able to sell these to scrap dealers.
The city said ratepayers will have to pay the 22-million it has cost the city to replace vandalised cables and council-owned equipment in the past year.