LAST week, Transnet issued a media statement applauding the multi-pronged security and intelligence clampdown by the South African Police Service (Saps) in collaboration with Transnet security personnel, which helped to apprehend 17 suspects in various regions of its operations.
Transnet Group Chief Executive, Michelle Phillips said: “These arrests demonstrate our strong resolve in curbing the prevalence of vandalism and essential infrastructure theft within our network. It is also indicative that our focused approach towards enhancing our stakeholder collaboration and holding our security service providers to a higher performance standard is beginning to yield positive results.”
According to the state-owned logistics company, all the suspects were to appear in court after being arrested in six separate incidents that occurred between September 9 and 10, 2025. On 9 September 2025, a train at Ladysmith Station in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal was targeted while awaiting changeover into Danskraal Yard, whereby suspects cut a seal on a wagon carrying vehicles. One suspect was arrested after attempting to steal a spare wheel and accessories.
In another incident, five suspects were arrested at Bloemhof-Hoopstad, North-West on the N12 by SAPS members after receiving a tip-off to intercept a suspicious vehicle. Copper cable with a street value of about R60,000 was found inside the vehicle. Around the same time, acting on a tip off in the North-West Province, police arrested four men who were found with pieces of catenary wire. The suspects have been charged with the illegal possession of essential infrastructure and violating the Immigration Act. They were detained at Bloemhof Saps, according to Transnet.
In the Western Cape, two incidents were reported on 9 September 2025. In the first incident, security officers stopped a vehicle near the Hugenot Tunnel, following the close monitoring of the vehicle. The driver was arrested while his passengers fled the scene. Officers recovered a significant amount of burnt coax copper cable in the vehicle, which weighed about 300 kg. Transnet said the suspect was charged in terms of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act at the Rawsonville Saps.
At nearby Bellville, Transnet security personnel caught a suspect tampering with essential infrastructure shortly after midnight. They contacted the Rapid Rail Police Unit (RRPU), and the suspect was arrested. On 10 September 2025, at Swartkops, in Gqeberha, security officers reported five suspects in the vicinity of several locomotives. They alerted SAPS and the RRPU, and subsequently five suspects were apprehended on four different locomotives and taken to the Swartkops police station.
