Transnet SOC Ltd (“Transnet”) welcomes the arrest of 21 individuals suspected of critical infrastructure theft. They were arrested on 01 September 2025 by members of South African Police Service (SAPS) at a Transnet depot in Swartkops, Gqeberha.

These arrests follow prompt action taken by Transnet security personnel at the depot when they spotted trespassers on the premises and promptly alerted SAPS. The 21 suspects were found hiding with several bags filled with the following stolen items: copper bus bars, transformers, electrical switches, copper cables and electrical cables, which collectively have an estimated value of about R350 000.

In another incident, on 3 September 2025, police recovered copper cable worth approximately R3 million at an unregistered scrapyard in De Deur, Gauteng and arrested five suspects.

This followed an intelligence-driven operation by a multidisciplinary team, which led them to a scrapyard in De Deur. The team discovered large quantities of copper cable and seized homemade stoves, reportedly used to burn the copper. Preliminary investigation further established that the copper cable belonged to Transnet.

The five suspects will soon appear before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of stolen infrastructure, dealing with second hands goods without a license and contravening the Immigration Act.

Transnet Group Chief Executive, Michelle Phillips, applauded these arrests as a demonstration of the success of the collaboration between Transnet security personnel and law enforcement agencies. “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.”

Meanwhile, Transnet also welcomes the successful conviction and sentencing of three cable theft criminals. These convicts were prosecuted and sentenced by the Molteno Regional Court in the Eastern Cape on 27 August 2025 for theft of copper cables, possession of stolen copper, and contravention of the Immigration Act.

The case was linked to an incident that occurred in December 2021, when police and Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager (TRIM) security received intelligence-driven information regarding vehicles transporting stolen copper cable theft in the Stormberg area.

The court handed down sentences of 15 years of jail time for the theft and possession of copper cables and 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.

These successes illustrate the impact of collaboration with SAPS, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), State Security Agency (SSA), Eskom, PRASA, and other state entities, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.