Criminals are after 3 items in South Africa – and they’re looking for homes that have them
Criminals have always been on the lookout for easy opportunities, and experts have warned that solar panels, gas bottles, and gate motors top the list of items being stolen from properties in South Africa.
In 2023, South Africa’s load shedding crisis intensified, with rolling blackouts becoming a daily disruption for millions of households and businesses.
The country’s state-owned power utility, Eskom, struggled to meet electricity demands due to ageing infrastructure, corruption, and frequent breakdowns at coal-fired plants.
The situation crippled economic activity and led to widespread frustration.
As a result, residential solar installations skyrocketed as homeowners sought independence from Eskom, while businesses invested in large-scale solar solutions to maintain operations during outages.
As of the end of 2023, R17.5 billion of solar panels were imported into this country.
However, this boom created a massive opportunity for criminal syndicates, as solar panels and their components are highly valuable.
Apart from the panels’ ability to generate electricity, the materials they’re made of are also valuable to criminals.
Additionally, the managing director of Guardian Eye, Rodney Taylor, has previously noted that solar panels and batteries are of very high value, as their components themselves—silver, aluminium, and copper—are already highly valuable.
“So they have a high resale value,” said Taylor.
Solar panel theft has become so rampant that an Eastern European manufacturer now produces panels that appear damaged to discourage theft.
The company purposefully produces panels that look damaged for the South African market, making them less attractive to criminals.
While South Africa is currently experiencing an over 150-day reprieve from load shedding in 2024, which is dampening solar demand, energy analyst Chris Yelland said the country’s solar boom is not over yet.
“Over time, the driver is going to start shifting from being largely driven by security and supply needs to become driven by economics and savings that can be achieved.”
He explained that demand would steadily increase as tariff increases become uneconomical compared to solar, while other motivators will come with the court’s goal of decarbonisation.
Unfortunately, this growing demand for solar energy will stimulate the rise of theft of solar equipment.
Along with the demand for solar panels among criminals, other items such as gas bottles and gate motors are also being targeted.
In May, Fidelity ADT said that branches had received recent reports indicating a crime trend where opportunistic thieves are entering yards or jumping over fences to steal gas bottles, irrespective of the size.
Criminals may use the gas bottles themselves for domestic purposes, such as cooking, heating, or even powering gas appliances, especially in areas prone to electricity supply disruptions.
They also sold on the black market at reduced prices to those who cannot afford to buy from legitimate suppliers.
The vulnerability lies in the fact that at most properties, gas bottle cages are usually out of the line of sight of the man courtyard, making it easy for criminals to break the cage, load bottles, and flee unnoticed.
Much like the components of solar panels, gate motors are stolen and stripped down for their various components (batteries, gearboxes, etc.).
These items are then sold individually, or the motors are sold as complete units to homeowners who, again, cannot afford to buy from legitimate suppliers.
The security group added that the criminals typically scout the area during the day, sometimes even poisoning dogs, and then return later to steal what they want.
“This is not a random act. We urge all residents not to become complacent about their perimeter security,” the group said.
“Residents are urged to remain vigilant and not to leave anything to chance. If you see anything suspicious in or around your neighbourhood, report it immediately to your private security company and local SAPS.”
According to the SAPS’ latest crime statistics, burglaries at residential premises increased by 6.8% quarter-on-quarter.
This trend remained with regard to robberies with aggravated circumstances at houses, which increased by 5.2% quarter-on-quarter.
Data captured at police stations across the country recorded 40,751 cases of home burglaries as of the end of 2023—roughly 453 incidents a day.
Meanwhile, the SAPS recorded 6,360 house robberies, or 71 every day.
Read: The house and car you can afford on a teacher’s salary in South Africa
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