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According to Hendrik Schmidt, who speaks for the party on minerals and energy, the primary costs of the theft - particularly of copper cables for electricity and telecommunications transmission - is not the most devastating economic loss.
Replies to parliamentary questions have shown that Eskom has lost R439m through cable theft in the past 14 years. Telkom has lost R760m during five of the past eight years. Figures for 2004/05/06 were not given.
The six metropolitan cities lost R72m from cable theft in 2007.
"A vast amount of money is fruitlessly spent on replacing cables that are frequently stolen again," Schmidt said at a media briefing in Parliament on Thursday.
"The money could have been spent on research and development, on training or community social investment."
But the secondary costs and tertiary costs are not so easily calculated.
Costing businesses
These are the costs businesses have to pay when operations are disrupted because of cable theft.
"Stolen cable can effectively shut a business down," Schmidt said, "sometimes permanently."
Equipment worth tens of thousands of rand can be damaged through the failure of an electrical supply.
There are no exact figures either for what the party called the tertiary costs of cable theft. Companies such as Eskom and Telkom are increasingly under pressure to hire security guards to fence off sites and install additional security measures to combat theft.
Telkom, for example, spent R100m a year on such security measures and paid out more on television campaigns.
Schmidt suggested that primary, secondary and tertiary costs "are probably in the vicinity of R5bn a year".
The DA urged the fast tracking of the Second Hand Good bill which regulates the dealers and would enable police to shut down dealers trading in stolen goods.
The party is also calling for increased control of exports of non-ferrous metals.
The DA reckoned that 3 000 tons of copper is exported through Cape Town harbour each month, despite the fact that we have minimal reserves of copper in the country. This translates into R15m of stolen copper leaving the country each month.
The DA also wants to see the re-establishment of a specialist police team to concentrate on metal theft.
The party observed that the cost of the theft of non-ferrous metal is not only measured in rand but also in lives. Children have been dying after falling down manholes when covers have been stolen.
- I-Net Bridge
