Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) North Corridor has been shut for 18 hours after cable thieves struck the line on Tuesday night
TFR said in a statement on Wednesday that the North Corridor, which runs from Lephalale in Limpopo, through Gauteng and Mpumalanga, to Richards Bay in KwaZulu Natal had been hit by two major incidents of cable theft.
The incidents occurred at around 22h50.
“One incident took place in Mswaneni between Vryheid and Ulundi on a tunnel bypass. The theft was extensive and included five spans of catenary wire stolen, five spans of contact wire vandalised, and five spans of steel work damaged,” TFR said.
It was forced to close the line to clear the load on the track, which would take approximately eight hours.
“Once the load has been cleared, a further 10 hours will be required to repair the line. The other incident on the North Corridor last night was an attempted cable theft at Mkhondo and required two hours of repair work, which has now been completed. These incidents are a clear indication that TFR is under siege from organised crime across the country,” TFR said. The North Corridor is a key corridor for the movement of export coal among other commodities, and accounts for more than 40% of the volume transported by TFR.
“Transnet is hard at work finding solutions to mitigate the scourge. We have put in place several measures to counteract this, including drones and tactical task teams, and are also collaborating with our customers on various initiatives,” TFR said.
It is engaging with all stakeholders and law enforcement agencies including the SAPS.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola recently granted TFR’s security officers peace officer status, empowering them to make arrests and assist the National Prosecuting Authority with prosecutions. They will also be able to search premises, facilities and people, complete dockets to ensure suspects are charged correctly, and assist with basic investigations.
TFR said approximately 1 500 kilometres of cable had been stolen during the financial year ending March 2022.
“The net financial impact of this is approximately R4.1 billion, which includes operational disruptions, security costs, remediation, and lost opportunity of foreign direct earnings,” TFR said.
