Stop illegal copper trade in its tracks

THEFT of copper has caused a loss of many hundreds of millions of rand to the economy and incredible personal inconvenience to taxpayers, yet it continues unabated in spite of a special Copper Police.

This disaster can be stopped in one stroke if the purchase and sale of copper by the big few dealers are banned immediately, as all stolen copper funnels to them.

Then some deal can be worked out whereby copper must arrive at the big couple of dealers in its original form and certified by the authorities as not being stolen.

The penalty for trading or holding reworked or stolen copper should be savage, to deter illicit copper dealers. There has been enough profit made while the economy and the public suffer.

The big boys are the key to the situation, they can choke this copper situation immediately. Why should they profit from the export of copper and all of us suffer?

They can rectify the situation in days. The situation reminds me off the Arms deal. It cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions in superfluous arms purchases so that tens of millions in commission could be paid to corrupt politicians.

I see on the internet, there has been ideas to eliminate cash payments for copper put forward by a leading dealer to reduce this situation, but I see no results.

Let’s stop the trade dead in its tracks to prevent the further wrecking of our train system and then sort out the details. There has been enough profit made while the economy and the public suffer.

It is scandalous that this trade has not been properly regulated. Perhaps the reinvigorated Hawks can assist in investigating the situation which does have a whiff of something wrong if such damage is done to the economy of the country and the obvious solution is seemingly ignored.

P Freidberg Durbanville