In South Africa, vandalism—whether driven by the lure of quick profits through theft or sheer destructive intent—has emerged as a pervasive threat to public infrastructure and daily life. From the theft of copper cables that powers homes and businesses to the arson of schools during periods of unrest, these acts disrupt essential services and impose staggering costs on communities already grappling with unemployment and inequality. As incidents continue to rise, citizens bear the brunt through prolonged blackouts, interrupted education, and heightened safety risks.
The Scourge of Infrastructure Theft for Profit
A significant portion of vandalism in South Africa revolves around the theft of valuable materials like copper cables, transformers, and steel from pylons, often orchestrated by organized syndicates seeking to profit from the scrap metal market. This type of crime has particularly targeted electricity and rail infrastructure. For instance, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) reported 1,000 kilometres of copper cable stolen between January and October 2021, averaging around 600 cases per month. Similarly, Eskom, the nation’s primary electricity provider, has faced relentless attacks, with theft and vandalism costing the utility approximately R221 million from April 2024 to February 2025. These acts include draining oil from transformers, creating illegal connections, and even stealing structural components from high-voltage pylons, leading to collapses after heavy rains.
The causes are deeply rooted in socio-economic challenges. High unemployment and poverty push individuals, often young men, into these crimes as a means of survival. Syndicates exploit this desperation, recruiting youth as “runners” and sometimes coercing them through threats, mirroring patterns seen in drug-related gangs. A thriving scrap metal industry, coupled with weak regulations and insider corruption—such as Eskom employees arrested for theft in 2022—further fuels the problem.
The impacts on citizens are profound and multifaceted. Power outages caused by vandalism leave homes and businesses without electricity for extended periods, sometimes weeks, as replacement parts for damaged transformers or breakers are sourced. This disrupts daily activities like cooking, heating, and food preservation, while forcing reliance on costly backup generators. In broader terms, such disruptions affect internet access, water purification, and healthcare, with hospitals resorting to diesel or coal during blackouts and even closing specialized units like renal care. Safety risks escalate too: tampering with infrastructure has led to electrocutions, explosions, and increased crime in darkened areas, endangering innocent bystanders, including children. Economically, state-owned enterprises lose R7 billion annually to repairs, with knock-on effects totaling R187 billion in lost productivity across the economy. Municipalities like Cape Town spend millions—over R15.3 million in the 2024/2025 financial year—replacing stolen items, diverting funds from service improvements.
Rail services have been equally hammered. Vandalism halts commuter trains, as seen in the Western Cape where all services stopped in March 2022 due to a substation attack. This reduces mobility for workers, delays supply chains in mining and agriculture, and exacerbates unemployment by limiting access to jobs.
Destructive Vandalism: From Schools to Protests
Not all vandalism is profit-driven; some stems from frustration, unrest, or senseless destruction. Schools have been frequent targets, particularly during lockdowns and protests. During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, 397 schools were vandalized nationwide, rising to 1,577 by May 2020. In the 2021 unrest, 140 schools suffered looting and damage worth over R300 million. Acts include arson, breaking windows, tearing up textbooks, and defacing walls with graffiti. Higher education institutions also face student-led vandalism during unrest, resulting in costly property damage.
These incidents widen educational inequalities, especially in townships where crime and insecurity already hinder learning. Pupils lose access to facilities, leading to collapsed learning environments and poorer academic performance. Broader community assets, like clinics and libraries, are torched during service delivery protests, further depriving citizens of essential resources.
Social media highlights community frustration, with reports of syndicates targeting new infrastructure and criminals using protests as cover to steal and destroy. In urban areas like Johannesburg, vandalism of traffic lights and poles causes accidents and economic strain.
Efforts to Stem the Tide
Authorities have responded with over 6,000 arrests related to infrastructure crimes, and conviction rates are improving. Calls for tougher laws, such as classifying vandalism as a more serious offence, have gained traction, with municipalities like Cape Town spending R500,000 weekly on cable replacements alone. Yet, as incidents persist—driven by poverty and organized crime—the human cost remains high, affecting health, education, and livelihoods across the nation.
South Africans continue to rebuild, but without addressing root causes like unemployment and regulatory gaps, the cycle of destruction threatens long-term progress.
