Second Reading: Second-Hand Goods Bill


Madame Speaker, 

The main objective of the bill before the House today is to create a new framework for regulating dealers in second-hand goods and pawnbrokers so that trade in stolen goods can be limited. This is a laudable objective which the IFP supports wholeheartedly. 

The bill replaces the original Act of 1955 in its entirety mainly because of the vastly changed environment in which second-hand goods dealers operate today. Very importantly, the bill allows the Minister of Safety and Security to adapt regulations to the various industry players' environments thereby hopefully ensuring fairness during implementation. 

Madame Speaker, 

The IFP broadly supports the bill, but we have one overriding concern. While the bill attempts to deal with scrap metals and copper retrieved from burnt cables, we feel that this provision does not go nearly far enough in addressing the scourge of cable theft in South Africa. 

The IFP previously has drawn attention to the devastating effect of cable theft in South Africa. This is one of the most serious economic crimes that are today being committed in our country. Not only does it disrupt essential services, but it also has serious cost implications for our economy. 

Last year Business Against Crime reported that the theft of copper cables cost the South African economy an estimated R5 billion per year, according to figures from Eskom, Telkom and Spoornet. These three companies spent approximately R5 billion replacing stolen cables during that financial year. 

Earlier this year, I placed a question on the Order Paper to the Minister of Communications asking her what the total cost of damages suffered by Telkom as a result of cable theft was in 2007. 

The Minister's reply was highly revealing. Telkom reported that operational expenditure to repair cable theft incidents for the 2007 financial year amounted to some R203 million while estimated outbound revenue loss amounted to R368 million. 

I also asked the Minister of Public Enterprises what damages Eskom suffered as a result of cable theft. The Minister replied that an amount of some R25 million was lost by Eskom. 

These are shocking figures which underpin the need for urgent legislative steps to combat cable theft. Last year, in consultation with the IFP, I tabled a private legislative proposal to include cable theft in the legal definition of sabotage and criminalises cable theft in the same class of crimes that can potentially threaten democracy and national security. 

The IFP believes that this private legislative proposal will more effectively deal with cable theft than what is provided for in the Second-Hand Goods Bill and we urge the government to take our ideas on board so that we can get this economic crime under control for once and all. 

Thank you