Journalhttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/en-US2010-07-31T18:01:00ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.5 (http://www.squarespace.com/)South Africa may take drastic steps to curb copper thefthttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/south-africa-may-take-drastic-steps-to-curb-copper-theft.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:39:25ZIn a drastic move to curb copper theft, South Africa may designate copper as a precious metal. As it is copper theft costs the country about 7 billion rand a year, according to a well known financial newspaper.

According to legal experts, designating copper as precious should make it harder for thieves to sell the stolen commodity.

Theft of this commodity has become such a problem that just last year South African logistics group Transnet spent at least R30-million to replace stolen copper cables, while state-owned power utility Eskom spent about R38-million, the paper said.

Mineral resources director-general Sandile Nogxina said his department would submit proposals to cabinet to amend the Precious Metals Act to include copper as a precious metal.

]]>Comments from the Technical Advisor regarding the reclassification of copper as a precious metalhttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/comments-from-the-technical-advisor-regarding-the-reclassifi.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:37:12ZComments by the Technical Advisor.

I was approached by a local radio station to comment on what impact I think the process of classifying copper as a precious metal would have on the theft of non-ferrous metals in South Africa. I subsequently first contacted several of the leading role players in this regard in the country, in order to determine their feelings as well.

It was noted by all that we did investigate this issue with the help of Business Against Crime a few years ago and decided to shelve the proposal due to the following reasons:

It would really be impossible for manufacturers, distributors, contractors and Utilities alike to implement and manage all the new regulations that they will have to adhere to when in possession of items containing copper. This will also cost a lot of money to implement for everyone involved.
At present there are not enough resources from government to administer the present laws and regulations, let alone managing this very difficult process.
It is envisaged that this implementation will punish the legal entities more than the illegal ones, as they in any case disregard any rules and regulations in order to make an “extra buck”
The theft of Utility metals has escalated over the years and at present at least half of the items stolen does not contain any copper, therefore they will only revert to other items to steal that is not regulated.

We, therefore, felt that nothing has drastically changed for the good since our investigation, to indicate that we should change our viewpoint. I, therefore, responded by saying that we would highly appreciate any effort by anyone to assist us in the process of combating Utility metal theft. However, we feel that there needs to be a lot of interaction with all the relevant role players before such a process can be successfully implemented.

We would, in the meantime, strongly suggest that the government rather ensure that a dedicated SAPS Unit be formed as soon as possible, which would focus only on Utility metal / non-ferrous metal theft. Furthermore, that there should be pressure placed on those responsible to draw up the regulations of the new law so that we can at last start using it for the goal it was written for, namely to stop the illegal trading in non ferrous metals in Southern Africa.

Rens Bindeman

]]>SARPA strategy on revenue recovery processeshttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/sarpa-strategy-on-revenue-recovery-processes.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:34:03ZA Revenue Recovery work group has been formed which will meet on the 6th - 7th July 2010 at Willow Park Conference venue, Kempton Park.

The reason for this process comes from discussions held during the recent NRS workshops, where certain shortcomings in processes utilized by Utilities were identified. During these discussions it became very clear that some of these processes are not known to most Municipal officials and that there is also some methods of risk identification, revenue recovery and prosecution processes that are not been implemented effectively by Utilities.

The goal of the session will be to workshop these issues and compile a “Strategy Document” which will be forwarded to the Executive for approval. This document can then be utilized as a tool to assist Utilities that are experiencing large non-technical losses, to effectively recover lost revenue and minimize future losses.

It is envisaged to structure the knowledge accumulated during these sessions into a strategic document that could be utilized as a type of “Revenue Recovery Toolkit”.

The processes that has been identified so far are:-

1) Process of identifying: -

Tampering with “medium to large power user” meters
Negligence with regard to meter installations / maintenance

2) Process of determining: -

Best timing of inspections at each type of metering installation
Reasons for the malfunctioning of meters
Effective criminal and disciplinary actions

3) Process of communicating: -

The correct methods of evidence collection
Effective protection of metering equipment.
Data analysis processes to substantiate evidence found during inspections
How to interact with Law Enforcement Agencies and Judicial structures
Safety aspects of metering installations due to tampering, theft or negligence

We have also received a request from EDI Holdings to discuss their revenue protection analysis report, compiled from information obtained during their ring fencing exercises in several Municipalities in South Africa. They are proposing that we send a delegation to some Municipalities that are experiencing high non technical losses, in order to identify their shortcomings and propose some remedial actions. As the abovementioned issues share the same outcome, Mr Deon Louw of EDI will be presenting the findings of their survey to the workgroup, who will then incorporate this information into the strategy document.

Please take note that the Strategy document will be presented and discussed in the last session at the upcoming Convention, so make sure you do not miss this chance to be part of a very important process of identifying shortcomings in Utilities and assisting them in how to minimize and recover their losses.

Rens Bindeman

]]>Cable theft causing delays for exportershttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/cable-theft-causing-delays-for-exporters.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:16:03ZPublic Enterprises Minister, Barbara Hogan, said cable theft along railway lines is causing exporters in Gauteng massive delays in getting their goods to harbours.

Delays were being experienced on the Johannesburg to Durban route due to the theft of the overhead copper cables.

"The average transit time for containers on the Johannesburg to Durban corridor (NATCOR) is 19 hours. Delays have been experienced on the NATCOR due to theft of overhead copper cable. Containers from Gauteng to Port Elizabeth/Ngqura take 40 hours to reach the destination because of cable theft in Gauteng. The transit time of containers to and from Cape Town is 46 hours, while the design is 36 hours of transit time," said Hogan.

There have been steps taken to counter this and it includes converting the copper cables to "tiger wire" and increasing the number of security guards in "hotspot" crime areas.

The minister said her department had also developed a joint working relationship with the National Intelligence Agency and the National Prosecuting Authority, which has resulted in the apprehension and conviction of cable thieves.

]]>Branch Workshopshttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/branch-workshops.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:14:44ZAt last, we have reached the stage where we are able to proceed with the proposed workshops in the different regions. The first proposal by the SARPA Executive to organize training sessions during the Branch meetings proved to be difficult to implement. Organizers felt that if the training session should be held on the same day as the Branch meeting, it would escalate the attendance numbers at the meetings to such an extent that they would have to utilize other more expensive venues. It was also noted that the persons attending the meetings are not necessarily the persons who should be attending the training.

During the PIESA / SARPA training session that was held in November 2009, we received no attendance from the branches Kwazulu Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Polokwane areas.

All Branches have subsequently indicated during consultation that they would rather have separate events, as they would also like to draw in members from the smaller Utilities. It was also suggested that the workshops should be held in more than one place in big Branch areas, in order to save on travelling for attendees. In order to save on costs it is also suggested that we only make use of Municipal venues. We are also looking to obtain sponsorship from affiliate members for the purpose of refreshments for these workshops.

The Cape of Good Hope Branch has already identified 2 venues in the Western and Southern Cape areas, in order to hold the workshops in September. The Polokwane Branch has indicated that the workshop would be held in tandem with their November meeting.

Representatives from some of the Metros have also indicated that they would like to assist in the facilitation process. It is, therefore, suggested in order to keep costs low, that other branches follow the Polokwane initiative and arrange the workshop in tandem with other important events in the region. We have, therefore, requested that the relevant Branch Chairpersons notify us regarding the proposed venues and dates of their workshops as soon as possible, as we need to report back at the Convention regarding the proposed dates and venues of the workshops.

Please note that these workshops will be unique in the sense that the information to be shared will be determined by the persons who attend each specific workshop. A list of topics and processes that could be discussed have already been drawn up and will be distributed to City Managers, so that they can decide which members to send to these events.

We see this is as a golden opportunity to also interact with the smaller Utilities, who are mostly non-members of SARPA and to get them involved in our activities. It is one of our goals this year to obtain new membership and to assist Utilities in minimizing their losses. It is important that we in SARPA show that we really care about these issues by sharing our knowledge with all the Utilities in Southern Africa.

]]>Branch reportshttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/branch-reports.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:07:19ZThis year has proven to be a very difficult year for SARPA Branches across the country, as members have found it difficult to organize and ensure well attended meetings. The reason for this seems to be the fact that Utility members are not allowed to travel so freely as before and senior role players are not available anymore due to job changes.

The Secretariat has been assisting as much as possible by covering some of the costs, organizing presentations and canvassing the members to attend the meetings. The Executive on the other hand decided to assist in the effort by drafting a guideline on how to hold an effective branch meeting. The Technical Advisor will be advising the Chairpersons on how to implement this guideline in the future.

We encourage all branches to send us a short report after each meeting so that we can place it in the e-bulletin. The reason for this request is the fact that the minutes of the meetings sometimes take very long to be distributed. We, therefore, miss the chance to give valuable feedback to other branches and SARPA members regarding very important information that was shared at the different Branch meetings.

We would also like to ask all Branch Chairpersons to submit their year programme with regard to meeting dates and venues so that the secretariat can advertise it on the website and e-Bulletin. You can send your reports and programme dates to dion@vdw.co.za or rens@mweb.co.za.
Hereby some information and proposals that are already available: -

2010 Branch updates

Cape of Good Hope Branch (Western and Southern Cape)
The previous meeting was used to workshop certain issues that has been identified as very important at the NRS workgroup meetings and during the May meeting. Detailed feedback was given regarding the newly revised NRS 055- Revenue Protection guideline. Mr Deon Louw from EDI gave feedback regarding their revenue protection analysis report, compiled from information obtained during their ring fencing exercises in several Municipalities in South Africa.
The next meeting will be held on the 19 August 2010 in Veldrif at 14h00. If you would like to do a presentation at the next meeting please contact Mr Rens Bindeman (rens@mweb.co.za - 0828505318)

Eastern Cape branch
The last meeting was held on the 7th of May in East London and was very well organized by Buffalo City. Presentations included best practices of the Revenue Protection section in Buffalo City by Mr Chris Gower, LPU revenue recovery programmes at Eskom and HD surveillance cameras system. The next meeting is planned for the 6 August at the Katberg Hotel. If you would like to do a presentation at this meeting please contact Mr Piet Bezuidenhout, Lukhanji Municipality (045 8076001 / 045 8076001 / dirtech@awe.co.za)

Central Branch (Freestate and Northern Cape)
No meeting was held this year due to the restructuring of personnel. The Technical Advisor and the Vice Chairperson are in the process of setting up a new meeting as soon as possible. The proposed date at this stage is Thursday 26 August 2010 at 14h00 at a private venue (to be announced at a later stage) in Bloemfontein. If you would like to do a presentation at the next meeting please contact Mr Rens Bindeman (rens@mweb.co.za - 0828505318)

Gauteng branch
This branch has not held any meetings this year after the bad attendance that was experienced at the last meeting, when it was done in tandem with the AMEU meeting. It is envisaged to rather organize the next meeting at a separate venue on a separate date from the AMEU meeting. The proposal at this stage is to hold the next meeting on the 12th August 2010 at a private venue in Johannesburg. If you would like to do a presentation at the next meeting please contact Mr Maboe Maphaka (0828756302 /maboe.maphaka@eskom.co.za)

Mpumalanga Branch
This branch has been dormant for some time and the Technical Advisor has been tasked to revive the branch once again. The proposal at this stage is to hold the next meeting on the 11th August in Middleburg (venue to be announced). Anyone who would like to get directly involved by helping to organize or do a presentation at this very important meeting please contact Mr Rens Bindeman (rens@mweb.co.za - 0828505318) or Mr Malesela Lelaka (0823362046 / lelakaFM@eskom.co.za)

Kwazulu Branch meeting
The last meeting was held on the 25th March in Newcastle and presentations ranged from ways of protecting cables from non-ferrous thieves, to the successes achieved in revenue protection projects and a self funding data management system. The next meeting will be held on the 22nd July at the Karridene Hotel, Illovo beach. If you would like to do a presentation at the next meeting please contact Mrs Rani Gophichand at Ethekwini Municipality (031 3116538 / Gopichand@elec.durban.gov.za)

Bushveld Branch
The last meeting on the 6th May at the Nature Reserve was well attended and Affiliate members presented several very interesting papers. The next meeting will take place at the same venue on the 5th August 2010 at the Polokwane Game Reserve, Dries Abrahamse Lapa. If you would like to do a presentation at this meeting please contact Mr William Olivier Polokwane Municipality (0842644386 / william.olivier@polokwane.gov.za)

]]>New committee for SARPA KwaZulu Natalhttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/new-committee-for-sarpa-kwazulu-natal.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:05:31ZChairman: Mr Rodney Goosen - Newcastle Municipality

Vice Chairman: Mr Bheka Kanyile - Richards Bay Municipality

Secretary: Mrs Rani Gopichand - eThekwini Electricity

]]>Cape Town battles cable thefthttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/7/6/cape-town-battles-cable-theft.htmlSecretariat2010-07-06T08:02:49ZCable theft is draining the resources of Cape Town’s city electricity services and hampering efficiency in attending to other public electricity complaints.

There are more than 320,000 streetlights across the entire Cape Metropole, many of which have been or will be fitted with 70 watt energy-efficient light bulbs, said mayoral committee member for utility services Clive Justus.

“This is part of the city’s concerted efforts to conserve power, while at the same time dealing with the scourge of cable theft and vandalism,” he said.

Plagued by the widespread plundering of its substations and power lines, city electricity services had been forced to keep certain areas of streetlights burning during the day to help prevent and monitor the occurrence of cable theft.

“Under normal circumstances, there would be no justification for wasting power and we should all be diligently conserving this precious commodity. Unfortunately, the city is suffering from an unprecedented onslaught from cable thieves, most of whom are ‘tik’ addicts desperate for drug money,” Justus said.

“An effective deterrent is to keep the streetlights burning as thieves rarely risk their lives by hacking into live wires. Also, the cost of ‘energising’ a 350 metre stretch of ten 70 watt streetlights amounts to about R2.68 per day. On the other hand, the cost of replacing the same length of stolen cable and vandalised equipment amounts to about R38,500 per incident. This does not even take into consideration the inconvenience caused to residents, or the additional costs of welding down access covers and encasing underground cables in concrete to secure our equipment,” he said.

In another alternative to deter vandalism and theft of street lighting infrastructure, the city had installed high mast lighting at a cost of R150,000 per pole set, for example in Matroosfontein.

These masts were more expensive to install than conventional lighting, but were more vandal-proof.

“In suburbs that are relatively unaffected by cable theft, the city is able to use day night switches activated by photo sensors to automatically switch off in daylight. Power disruptions in these areas are usually caused by overloaded or defective circuit breakers, lamp failures or contact between tree branches and transmission lines. However, in ‘hot spots’ such as Bonteheuwel, Hanover Park, Gugulethu, Manenberg, Kalksteenfontein, Atlantis, the M5, Mitchells Plain, the Helderberg region and Vanguard Drive, and many other places—especially the Eskom supply areas—disruptions are invariably caused by cable theft.

“Bonteheuwel was vandalised so badly, there was almost nothing left to repair. Electricity services staff and contractors have been assaulted on site and the city’s trucks have been stripped by gangs in broad daylight,” Justus said.

Provincial roads, such as the N2 and Settlers Way, from Rondebosch to Somerset West, had also suffered major blackouts as a result of cable theft.

“Cable theft is draining the resources of city electricity services and hampering our efficiency in attending to other public electricity complaints.”

The city’s dedicated cable theft task team, known as the Copperheads, championed by councillor Sheval Arendse, was working around the clock to catch and prosecute perpetrators.

]]>Questions in parliament regarding revenue protection issueshttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/5/17/questions-in-parliament-regarding-revenue-protection-issues.htmlSecretariat2010-05-17T07:08:09ZTwo questions were recently asked in Parliament to the Minister of Energy regarding Revenue Protection issues. Both times the answers contained figures obtained only from Eskom and assumptions made regarding Municipalities. We should ask ourselves the question, why does this happen. Is it because the Minister gets no replies regarding questions from the other Utilities in South Africa, or are the relevant officials just taking the “easy route” out by using Eskoms information?

As many persons would maybe not agree with these answers, I would hereby like to ask members to post their opinions in the Linkedin SARPA group page, or send an email to me, so that I can post it there for discussion by the group members.

Hereby the one of the questions that was asked and the response: Rens Bindeman

Question asked in Parliament to the Minister of Energy:
How much electricity is lost to Eskom and/or municipalities as a result of theft, (b) what is the rand value of this loss and (c) what is the extent of this loss to Eskom’s and municipalities’ finances?
NW746E

Response
In 2008/9 financial year Eskom sales amounted to 214 850 GWh. The total losses (technical and non-technical) amounted to 11 706 GWh. The assumption is that this figure includes 33.3% to 50% of non-technical losses in the form of theft. That implies theft losses range from 4 100 GWh to 5 850 GWh.

a) Assuming that most of the losses take place amongst residential customers who buy electricity at an average of 62c/kWh then the financial implications are from R2.5 billion to R3.6 billion per annum. It is estimated that the municipalities lose the same amount of energy.

b) However, if these illegal connections were legal, they would have qualified for Free Basic Electricity. Should each connection be using the average of 180 kWh per month, it means the Free Basic Electricity would have reduced the losses to around 72% of the above values, and thus the loss would be reduced to R1.8 billion to R2.6 billion per year. With Eskom and Municipal supplies combined, and taking into account the impact of FBE, the financial value amounts to R4.4bn of lost revenue due to electricity theft.

c) This would be more than 5% of turnover, indicating the seriousness of the problem.

]]>Revising the NRS documentshttp://www.sarpa.co.za/journal/2010/5/17/revising-the-nrs-documents.htmlSecretariat2010-05-17T07:04:34ZThe mammoth task of revising and compiling all the SARPA NRS Documents is nearly finished and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped us to reach this stage of the milestone. It is the first time since the inception of the Association, that such a group of experts committed themselves to perform such a task. Special thanks also to Alvin Fredericks for all his guidance and patience when we deviated from the subject (especially in the one workgroup)

The documents namely NRS 055 – Code of Practise for Revenue Protection, NRS 059 - Recommendations to minimize problems associated with the theft of transformer neutral and neutral earthing copper conductors NRS 096 - Guideline to Sealing and NRS 101 – Guidelines for the reduction of the theft of Utility service Metals, are all in the final stage of completion. As the final drafts are finished, the documents will be put out for vote. The aim is to complete the process before the July Convention.

We are very proud of these documents and have already received inquiries from Utilities all over the world regarding when it will be available. It seems we are the only country in the world where guidelines like these are available.

It has been decided that once the documents are available, we will use it as a marketing tool to sell SARPA to Utilities who are not members at this stage. A type of road show is envisaged that will travel around the country each and hold workshops, in order to discuss effective methods to utilize the knowledge in these guidelines. Watch this bulletin for further news regarding this project!

NRS 055 Workgroup

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