From missing manhole covers and stripped electrical cables to vandalised public infrastructure, metal theft continues to leave costly scars across the Mother City, but city officials say intensified patrols, technology-driven operations and public tip-offs are starting to shift the tide.
It comes after new figures released by the City of Cape Town showed the municipality’s Metal Theft Unit made 88 arrests between July 2025 and April 2026, while recovering more than a kilometre of stolen cable and over 800kg of stolen metal.
Cape Town currently has more than 600 scrap dealers and bucket shops operating across the city, a reflection, authorities say, of how profitable the underground metal trade has become.
Over the past 10 months, the Metal Theft Unit carried out nearly 6 000 patrols in identified hotspot areas while conducting more than 1 200 scrapyard compliance inspections.
Teams also responded to hundreds of public complaints and issued over 3 000 fines linked to by-law violations.
Officials say CCTV surveillance, drones and thermal imaging equipment are now being used to monitor rural landscapes and vulnerable infrastructure corridors more effectively.
‘We are confident that the near 30% increase in hotspot patrols has prevented acts of criminality, protecting essential infrastructure in the process,’ JP Smith stated.
‘But our staff monitor the entire pipeline, including keeping scrap dealers honest.’
Smith added that businesses operating without proper registration or found violating legislation face immediate closure during inspections.
Authorities confirmed that 42 scrapyards and 94 bucket shops have been shut down since July last year.
Bucket shops are typically registered dealers operating from residential properties, while formal scrapyards generally function from business-zoned premises.
Closures were linked to repeated non-compliance, illegal trading activity or failure to register as second-hand goods dealers or metal recyclers. The campaign has also produced several successful prosecutions.
In one recent case, a suspect was convicted for stealing a seesaw from a park in Ravensmead and is expected to be sentenced in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court.
Another matter before the same court relates to damage to, or possession of essential infrastructure linked to PRASA property.
Meanwhile, in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court, a man arrested in Kraaifontein after being found with eight bags of stolen Transnet cable weighing more than 409kg was sentenced to 15 years behind bars earlier this year.
Smith highlighted that community tip-offs continue playing a major role in identifying illegal operations and suspicious activity tied to metal theft.
‘Public assistance is critical in clamping down on the illegal trade in metals, so if you see something, please report it, no matter how big or small,’ Smith said.
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Picture: CoCT/Facebook
