Suspects in court for copper theft

According to Eskom's Security Risk Division the suspects were arrested on the R544 between Witbank and Kriel when the bakkie they were travelling in was pulled over.

"The suspects were confronted and requested to provide proof of purchase for the copper. No documents were provided, and the Witbank SAPS arrested the three suspects," Eskom says.

More than 550 kg of copper was confiscated.

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The power giant reminded members of the public that theft of Eskom infrastructure, including copper cables, overhead lines, transformers, and conductors, among others, remains a serious crime.

"Eskom, along with other state-owned entities such as Transnet, Telkom, and municipalities, is plagued by infrastructure theft."

Copper theft costs the economy between R5 billion and R7 billion a year with Eskom spending around R2 billion every year to replace stolen copper.