Transnet has welcomed the arrest of five suspects for allegedly being in possession of copper cable worth approximately R3-million at an unregistered scrapyard in Gauteng.
The arrest followed an intelligence-driven operation by a multidisciplinary team. This led them to a scrapyard in De Deur, south of Joburg.
The team discovered large quantities of copper cable and seized homemade stoves, reportedly used to burn the copper. Preliminary investigations further established that the copper cable belonged to Transnet.
Undocumented immigrants
The five suspects will soon appear before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of stolen infrastructure, dealing with second hand goods without a license and contravening the Immigration Act
In a separate incident, 21 individuals suspected of critical infrastructure theft with an estimated value of about R350, 000 were arrested on Monday at a Transnet depot in Swartkops, Gqeberha.
The suspects were found in possession of several bags filled with copper bus bars, transformers, electrical switches, copper cables and electrical cables.
Transnet security personnel at the depot spotted trespassers on the premises. They alerted the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Transnet Group Chief Executive, Michelle Phillips, applauded these arrests. She said they are a demonstration of the success of the collaboration between Transnet security personnel and law enforcement agencies.
Damage of essential infrastructure
“Our work is beginning to make serious inroads in dismantling the destructive criminal syndicates targeting essential infrastructure. We will continue to focus on fighting crimes which are responsible for the destruction of our essential infrastructure,” Phillips said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Transnet also welcomed the successful conviction and sentencing of three cable theft criminals.
They were prosecuted and sentenced by the Molteno Regional Court in the Eastern Cape on August 27 2025. The trio were charged for theft of copper cables, possession of stolen copper, and contravention of the Immigration Act.
Eastern cape cases
The case was linked to an incident that occurred in December 2021. Police and Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager security acted on intelligence-driven information. Vehicles transporting stolen copper cable were spotted in the Stormberg area.
The court handed down sentences of 15 years of jail time for the theft and possession of copper cables. A further three months imprisonment for breach of the Immigration Act to each of the suspects.
The investigation was led by the Komani-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) of the Hawks.
Transnet said these successes illustrate the impact of collaboration with SAPS, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), State Security Agency (SSA), Eskom, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and other state entities. They include the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
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