More than 70 people were arrested in six months for tampering with and damaging essential infrastructure in Cape Town.
Two luxury vehicles spotted outside a scrapyard in Epping were searched last month and seized after the city's metal theft unit found them transporting more than 200kg of copper cable worth about R30,000. Seven men were arrested.
Safety and security MMC JP Smith said the city had recorded 74 arrests in six months with the assistance of drone surveillance with thermal imaging to detect thieves at night.
Other interventions by city authorities over the period — July to December 2024 — included 1,962 hotspot patrols, 852 scrapyard compliance inspections, 1,955 fines issued for bylaw transgressions, 656m of stolen cable recovered, 1,258kg of stolen metals recovered and 275 complaints responded to.
"[The number of arrests] tracks with the annual average but the pace of convictions and sentences handed down need to be accelerated. There are systemic issues in the criminal justice system that need to be tackled if we are to make a meaningful dent in metal theft [and] crime in general,” said Smith.
TimesLIVE
More than 70 metal thieves arrested over six months in Cape Town
Image: City of Cape Town
More than 70 people were arrested in six months for tampering with and damaging essential infrastructure in Cape Town.
Two luxury vehicles spotted outside a scrapyard in Epping were searched last month and seized after the city's metal theft unit found them transporting more than 200kg of copper cable worth about R30,000. Seven men were arrested.
Safety and security MMC JP Smith said the city had recorded 74 arrests in six months with the assistance of drone surveillance with thermal imaging to detect thieves at night.
Other interventions by city authorities over the period — July to December 2024 — included 1,962 hotspot patrols, 852 scrapyard compliance inspections, 1,955 fines issued for bylaw transgressions, 656m of stolen cable recovered, 1,258kg of stolen metals recovered and 275 complaints responded to.
"[The number of arrests] tracks with the annual average but the pace of convictions and sentences handed down need to be accelerated. There are systemic issues in the criminal justice system that need to be tackled if we are to make a meaningful dent in metal theft [and] crime in general,” said Smith.
TimesLIVE
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