Reuters reveals how the illicit copper trade is sapping South Africa

Reuters revealed how South Africa’s economic woes are being compounded by the theft of massive amounts of copper from state firms Eskom and Transnet, much of which is smuggled overseas, costing the country billions of rand a year. Power firm Eskom, which expects to make a 15.2 billion rand ($1.1 billion) net loss in its current financial year, told Reuters that “unrelenting” copper theft was costing it 5-7 billion rand annually, plus 2 billion rand a year to replace stolen cables. Transnet Freight Rail said copper thefts had climbed 177% over the past five years and had risen particularly sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic.