MBABANE – The net is closing in on seven Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) senior employees suspected of being part of a copper theft syndicate.
According to investigations, the senior employees are suspected of facilitating the theft of copper cables, which has resulted in the parastatal incurring significant losses and being on the brink of collapse.
The employees are said to have collaborated with a syndicate responsible for the destruction of infrastructure and a businessman allegedly involved in the entity’s supply chain.
Sources indicate that copper theft at the parastatal is linked to a network of individuals both within and outside the entity. The ongoing investigations suggest that officers within the EPTC facilitated the placing of orders for copper cables.
These EPTC officers are said to be colluding with unscrupulous entrepreneurs who ensure they are constantly supplying the entity, amassing millions of Emalangeni from the financially struggling institution.
The architects of this scheme are said to have facilitated these acts for over two decades. They are believed to have individuals who steal the copper once it has been replaced, thereby creating a constant demand for the metal.
An insider within the organisation revealed that preliminary investigations uncovered a direct involvement of employees. The source said some of the employees’ roles include providing insider information to the syndicates, such as identifying weak substations that are soft spots for copper theft.
“They are also facilitating the theft by providing transport and we’ve established that there are employees who drive company vehicles to scrapyards in Matsapha where they sell the copper. At times, they drive to the scrapyards transporting the copper,” the source said.
It was established by this publication that the employees’ roles are rewarded with varying amounts, ranging from E5 000 per week to more, depending on the amount of copper they facilitate in the theft. On the other hand, the syndicate stealing the copper works on targets; some thieves have a target of E7 500 per day.
The insider also told this publication that the issue was so serious that they had a meeting with the National Commissioner of Police, Vusi Manoma Masango, to deliberate on the matter. He said the parastatal’s management narrated their challenges and sought the intervention of the police.
Meanwhile, this publication last week reported that the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has adopted a zero-tolerance strategy that has now claimed the lives of five suspected thieves in just over a month.
The latest fatality is 36-year-old Sibonginkhosi Zulu of Ka-Bhudla, who was shot dead by police at Mbikwakhe on Monday, August 5, 2025, during an attempted escape from arrest.
Zulu was a wanted man, linked to at least seven copper theft cases and four incidents of housebreaking and theft. His death marks the fifth police-involved fatal shooting tied to copper theft in recent weeks.
Full article available in our paper.
Scrapyards are said to be an avenue for laundering stolen copper. (Pic: Bloomberg)