It’s a human rights crisis, SAHRC says of copper cable theft

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has released a policy brief arguing that copper cable theft and scrap metal trafficking should be treated as a human rights crisis, not simply a crime or economic problem.

The brief, published this month, says the commission is acting under its constitutional mandate to monitor and report on the state of human rights in the country and stresses that it isn’t trying to take over the work of police, prosecutors or municipalities, but to assess whether existing measures are doing enough to protect the communities affected.

The scale of the problem, according to the brief, is significant.

“Available evidence demonstrates that infrastructure vandalism and metals theft are persistent, large-scale threats to the infrastructure through which essential services are delivered.

“Their impact cannot be understood solely as property crime or economic loss. The cumulative effect is the systematic destruction of infrastructure through which constitutional rights and essential public services are realised,” the brief says.

Infrastructure vandalism … has a disproportionate impact on poor, rural and informal-settlement communities—  South African Human Rights Commission

According to the SAHRC, research commissioned by the trade, industry and competition department puts the economic damage from copper theft alone at more than R45bn a year.

“Eskom recorded year-to-date theft and vandalism losses of R221m by mid-2025, down from R271m the previous year, while Transnet Freight Rail lost 4,633km of copper cable between 2020 and October 2023.”

Consequences of this vandalism and theft go well beyond the financial cost, according to the brief.

Stripped water infrastructure, damaged electricity networks and vandalised school and clinic wiring translate directly into interrupted water supply, power cuts, compromised healthcare and disrupted education, it says.

“The commission’s own work has also encountered the service-delivery consequences directly. For example, in June, OR Tambo district municipality informed the SAHRC that vandalism and copper theft were significant contributors to the deterioration of water infrastructure and disruptions to water services.

“The commission is particularly concerned that these harms are not equally distributed. Poor, rural and informal-settlement communities often have the fewest alternatives when essential services fail, deepening existing inequality.

“Wealthier households are more likely to insulate themselves through generators, boreholes and private security. Infrastructure vandalism therefore has a disproportionate impact on poor, rural and informal-settlement communities, deepening existing inequality and undermining the equal enjoyment of socioeconomic rights.

“The constitutional promise of progressive realisation is impaired not only by failures to expand access but also by the destruction of infrastructure already provided,” says the brief.

In order to deal with this issue, the commission says, SA has a substantial legislative and policy framework, but the principal challenge is the effectiveness, completeness and coordination of its implementation and enforcement.

It also recommends that parliament and the relevant portfolio committees formally acknowledge infrastructure vandalism as a human rights crisis and not merely an economic or security matter.

The commission said it will now engage parliament, government departments, law enforcement, regulators, municipalities, state-owned entities and industry in implementing its recommendations.

It has recommended urgent finalisation of outstanding reforms, stronger transaction traceability and seller verification, and enforcement directed at the entire illicit value chain, including organised networks, receiving dealers, facilitators and illicit financial flows.

“Organs of state must also treat infrastructure protection, restoration and service continuity as part of their constitutional responsibilities, while businesses in the scrap-metal value chain should undertake appropriate human-rights due diligence and verify the lawful origin of materials.

“When infrastructure fails, human rights ultimately fail with it.”