Port Elizabeth – Kilometers of steel and aluminum railings along Nelson Mandela Bay’s freeways have been stolen.
This not only puts a financial burden on the municipality’s distressed coffers but also poses a serious danger to public safety.
Unchecked scrap metal and second-hand dealers are fueling the plunder of the infrastructure.
Thieves have also resorted to stealing drain covers to pawn to scrap-metal dealers.
Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said the metro was fighting a losing battle, with incidents of theft daily and the problem rearing its head at different locations with alarming regularity.
Mniki estimated damage caused stood at more than R1-million.
He said an insatiable appetite for metal in the market was driving the problem, which was at near crisis proportions…
South Africa Today – South Africa News
