The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has published its monthly ‘Copper Theft Baramoter’ today, finding that the amount of copper stolen from cables and pipework fell dramatically from August to September, reducing from 187 metric tons to 150 metric tons.

The August figures were unusually high, and SACCI notes with what sounds like relief that:

This decrease is a welcome return to the general downward trend in the barometer following the temporary spike in August. August was the first month in 2013 that the Barometer exceeded the R11 million level and the general downward trend, as evidenced by the lower September figure, is expected to continue without further upward spikes for the short to medium term.

Whether or not the optimism is justified will show up in the October figures next month. Last week, OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg was plunged into chaos as cable theft was blamed for flight delays.

(Image: Wikicommons)