Fuel supply drying up because of theft and vandalism, the passenger rail network collapsing due to rampant crime, cable theft and massive income loss all make for a dire picture that emerged at the Economic Sabotage of Critical Infrastructure Roundtable in Johannesburg.
According to Transnet CEO Portia Derby, the logistics utility’s pipeline network recorded 118 vandalism and theft cases in 2021.
This year there have already been 61 cases.
So severe were the attacks on the state-owned company’s (SOC) fuel supply network that Gauteng’s pumped petrol and diesel supply could dry up, Derby warned.
She said this was especially noticeable when global oil pressures caused a spike in the price of fuel.
The financial burden on Transnet to fix tampered infrastructure and clean up fuel spills, such as April’s incident when a breached valve near Harrismith caused thousands of litres to gush into the Meul River, had only added to the SOC’s woes, Derby said.
She added that about R400 million a year had to be spent on broken infrastructure and environmental response efforts.
Then there’s the nagging issue of cable theft, a scourge that leads to R2 billion in direct annual loss of income for Transnet Freight Rail.
Income lost to date from chrome and coal exports compromised because of cable theft stands at R30bn, Derby said.
An estimated 1 500 kilometres of cable was stolen over the last 12-month period.
Then there’s the passenger rail network, a public transport system in such a state of disrepair because of out-of-control crime it’s on the verge of collapse.
Of the total network of 2 300 kilometres, about 1 000 kilometres are now without signalling cable because of theft.
Where once this network had been supported by 590 stations, only 129 remained, the CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Hishaam Emeran, told the Roundtable.
