Cable theft is arguably one of South Africa’s most pressing problems, with its negative impact on electricity supply, road and rail transport and industrial and mining output, as well as on the daily lives of citizens whose economic activities are disrupted, sometimes for prolonged periods. 

A cable theft monitoring device designed in South Africa and currently operational on 12 South African sites, has been hailed as a major technological advancement.  

The Permaconn-based communication CM12 solution was developed by Commercial ICT, part of Elvey Security Technologies. Permaconn is an Australian-based alarm signalling system that incorporates cable sensing and monitoring technology, communication technology, cell phone application (app) technology, the Internet and security protocols to facilitate communication from protected sites to alarm monitoring centres.

An alert signal is sent as soon as contact is made with the cable, allowing for immediate response by security personnel.

Most cable theft is carried out by burning the cable insulation, waiting for the cable to short-circuit and then pulling the cable out of the ground. A rapid response to an alert signal transmitted to a cell phone app or 24-hour monitoring system, prevents this lengthy theft process from being carried out.

The same alert process applies if security at electrical substations is breached or if a mini substation is damaged and live cabling is left exposed. The system can also be used as a panic alarm, in case of an emergency at a substation or if staff are endangered.

Radio input and output controls allow substation doors to be opened and closed remotely, while sensors detect when doors are opened or closed and also link to alarm panels.

The ATLAS fleet management system monitors the location and status of devices every two minutes, to detect off-line systems.

In addition, the system allows for notifications to be labelled according to customers’ naming conventions for substations, circuit breakers or distribution points.

The company promises a quick turn-around time, with installations completed within half a day.  

The device is DIN mounted and can protect up to 12 cables. The theft unit uses Rogowski coils certified up to 5.5 kv on the inputs to protect alternating current and pulsed direct current supply cables.