With no power comes great responsibility

Accountability. If you look up this word in the dictionary it will have words like “liable” and “responsible” listed as synonyms. As an antonym, it will list the word “government”. I'm dead serious. Have a look at any online dictionary right now.

Are you in the public eye simply because you're pretty?

Farzana Rasool, IT in government editor, ITWeb

If you really did look that up, you're quite funny and perhaps you should work for government.

So back to the point. Government seems to have no idea that something like accountability even exists. Why is this a problem? Well, if you're the one in charge and you don't think anything that goes wrong is your problem, then what are you in charge for? Are you in the public eye simply because you're pretty?

How often do we have to hear epic lines like “with great power comes great responsibility”, before we actually take it in and comprehend it?

In my little rant, I'm going to explain how, in this case, with no power comes great responsibility as well.

Cable theft. Government seems to think that if you look up this word in the dictionary you'll find listed, as part of the explanation/description, “Telkom”.

If you looked up this one too, congratulations, there's a ministerial position waiting for you.

Yesterday, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications chairperson Eric Kholwane said the cable theft situation in SA is a crisis.

I couldn't agree more. Cable theft results in citizens being cut off from ICTs; medical equipment becoming useless due a lack of power; businesses being stumped; and SA being cut off from the rest of the world... to put it mildly.

So yes, Mr Kholwane, it is a crisis. It makes access centres and government initiatives like the Thusong centres, which are multi-purpose community centres aimed at improving service delivery and increasing access to government services for the poor, redundant. It makes the idea of e-government laughable and it makes the hope of establishing hi-tech cities a distant dream, as we see the shiny new Gautrain literally stopped in its tracks when cables are stolen.

Kholwane went on to say it is Telkom that needs to wake up and realise this problem is not about itself, but about the betterment of the citizens. He basically told Telkom to get up and solve the problem, and that the crisis is all Telkom's fault.

While I refuse to be confused for someone who is defending Telkom, especially when there are rumours about it stealing its own cables, it is hard to see how this is just Telkom's fault. The company itself is a victim in this situation, having to replace expensive infrastructure every time the crime occurs.

How does government not see that there are several policy changes that need to occur to ensure the cable theft problem is curbed?

Gautrain operator the Bombela Concession Company (BCC) says it cannot fight against copper theft alone, but needs the backing of government and other authorities.

Government needs to implement harsher penalties for cable thieves and must make sure it's not so easy to benefit from copper theft, says Errol Braithwaite, executive at BCC.

He says great assistance is needed from the authorities, since the Gautrain can only increase security, but this will not solve the problem.

“The actual cost of lost copper is negligible compared to the knock-on effect of the loss of service. When copper is stolen, whether it's from the Gautrain or City Power, the real loss is of productivity for the economy.”

Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi also called on authorities to stop seeing cable theft as a petty crime since it is an act of sabotage, as well as theft.

Energy minister Dipuo Peters agreed and previously said a person who steals the copper is a murderer, a thief and a saboteur, since without power cables, basic services including emergency medical operations are threatened.

The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry says factors that contribute to the difficulty in combating non-ferrous metal theft include weak export control measures and poor inspection of containers.

It adds that increasing longer term price of copper and increasing demand both domestically and internationally make theft a lucrative, illegal business.

Adding to the difficulty in addressing the issue is the involvement of organised syndicates; the absence of appropriate regulation to control processing, sale, import and/or export of non-ferrous metals; accessibility to cable networks; and the readily available scrap market through which stolen material is routed back into the chain of processing, manufacturing, supply, and export.

The chamber says the Second-Hand Goods Act of 2009 is expected to be implemented soon and is considered to be crucial in the campaign against copper theft.

“In SA, there is the opportunity to boast of greater successes in the arrest and conviction of copper thieves.”

Telkom says the challenge it faces in its fight against cable theft is the promulgation of the Second Hand Goods Act. “This has been in the pipeline for some years, but the regulations which underpin the Act are still to be completed by the SAPS [SA Police Service]. Until this Act is passed, unscrupulous traders will continue to trade in stolen metals with relative impunity. Defence attorneys continue to use the fact that our cables do not have distinctive markings in their defence of alleged thieves.”

So this may come as a surprise, dear government, and I know it's a lot of unexpected pressure, but everyone is waiting on you to lead the way.

Once again, government has pointed a finger without the slightest concern for what its role should have been. It looks to Telkom to solve the problem, yet it is difficult to see what progress the SAPS, departments of justice, transport, energy, or even communications have made in resolving this matter.

Predictable. I would like to say this word is listed as synonymous with “government”, but just when you think it can no longer surprise you...