South Africa's Transnet says cable theft rises sharply during strike

South Africa's national logistics group Transnet said a surge in cable theft during a worker strike this month further hampered freight rail services, whose poor performance has cost exporters billions of rand a year.

Transnet workers' 12-day strike over wage claims began on October 6, hitting ports and freight rail services in Africa's most developed economy.

Before the strike, Transnet's rail freight services were running short due to shortages of locomotives, poor maintenance, lack of spare train parts, stolen copper cables and vandalism.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, Transnet executives said the increase in cable theft due to low levels of security during the strike, particularly in the container corridor - which runs between the commercial hub of Johannesburg and the Indian Ocean port of Durban - lost 12 Kilometre cable during the strike.

Rudzani Ligege, Transnet's director of operations in the region, said: "We expect a 22% increase in cable theft in container corridors alone during the strike."

Transnet's general manager of security Marius Bennett said there had also been individual instances of vandalism during the early stages of the strike.

Despite the nearly two-week strike, Transnet said it still plans to transport 60 million tonnes of coal in the financial year ending March 2023.

"We are working tirelessly to continue the improvements we started to see before the strike began," said Ali Motala, executive director of Transnet Freight Rail's northern corridor, which hauls thermal coal from mines to Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

Transnet's freight rail service was operating at 18% capacity during the strike, resulting in huge losses for exporters, especially miners, officials said.

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