Organised gangs targeting Transnet's underground energy pipelines have siphoned off at least 10-million litres of liquid fuels in the past financial year alone.
So brazen are the thieves - who have their own tanker trucks to transport the stolen product - that in one case they erected a shack on a farm where a pipeline passes and punched a hole into it to help themselves.
The network of high-pressure pipes totals nearly 3,200km and carries products including gas, petrol, diesel, crude oil and aviation fuel between KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the North West and Free State.
The thefts also result in spills, which cause severe environmental damage.
Sources with inside knowledge said the accumulated losses caused by the criminal activity were in the region of R1bn a year.
Transnet's pipeline division was unwilling to give a figure for the financial impact, but spokesperson Saret Knoetze called it "severe".
"Not only is it the actual product lost, it is also the associated repair costs, environmental rehabilitation costs and the additional safety precautions/patrol costs that we have had to incur," she said.
Knoetze said 143 incidents of theft involving 10-million litres of fuel had been recorded in the past financial year.
She said the thieves' modus operandi was usually simply to dig holes down to the pipeline from the surface.
"They damage and syphon fuel from the pipeline and associated infrastructure, which is classified as essential infrastructure," Knoetze said.
"This is a well-organised illegal operation and they use fuel tankers to transport the stolen product.
"As to who is involved, this is part of the ongoing investigation by the law enforcement agencies [including] the Hawks."
She said the thieves concentrated on pipelines in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, but incidents had also been recorded in the other three provinces where the network runs.
Knoetze said the Transnet pipeline division had implemented various safety and security measures and increased patrols to try to thwart the gangs.
It was also working closely with the department of mineral resources, the National Energy Regulator of SA and oil companies to devise strategies to protect the pipeline.
"In addition to increased security measures along the pipeline, we are also working with the [Hawks], national crime intelligence and the SAPS.
"Such partnerships continue to yield positive results, with a number of breakthroughs in the form of arrests and impounding of vehicles and fuel tankers recorded."
In the past financial year, 102 people had been arrested in connection with the thefts and 33 criminal cases were now before the courts. One of the accused was convicted last month.
Inside help possible
It is unclear how the criminals get access to maps of exactly where the pipelines run and to what extent they receive inside help. An employee of Transnet's pipeline division was recently arrested for stealing fuel from a depot.
Knoetze said Transnet was urging petroleum retailers and members of the public to refrain from buying fuel from unregistered traders to help curb the demand for illegal petroleum products.
Transnet pipelines transport 17-billion litres of liquid fuels every year.
The trunk line - the main multiproduct pipeline from refineries in Durban to the Jameson Park terminal near Heidelberg - averages 250-million litres a week.
The diameters of the pipes range from about 15cm to 50cm.
At least 40 homes on the east rand had to be evacuated in December 2019 after an explosion on an underground Transnet aviation fuel pipeline near Alberton.
In July, three men who were stealing diesel by extracting it from an underground pipeline and pumping it into a fuel tanker were caught red-handed in Rustenburg.
They were nabbed by a multipronged operation involving the Hawks' serious organised crime unit, crime intelligence, the police dog unit, the flying squad and Transnet officials.
