Theft costs Spoornet millions

Cable and locomotive battery theft east of Johannesburg has cost Spoornet over 140-million rands in lost revenue. Spokesperson Molatwane Likhethe says the disruption has been on trains out of and into Johannesburg, particularly on the Natal and the Cape corridor. Independent Online reports that last month alone cable and battery theft affected 494 Spoornet trains, which caused serious delays and the cancellation of 94 trains. Spoornet now faces the challenge of having to secure about 23-thousand kilometre of rail track with limited security resources. But hotspots have been identified, several syndicates arrested and overhead copper wire cables replaced with tiger wire which doesn't have a high resale value.