In order to curb the theft of metal used in public infrastructure, South Africa has imposed a temporary six-month ban on the export of copper and copper-alloy scrap, as well as most ferrous scrap from 30 November 2022. Export licenses issued before the ban are not affected.

The ban aimed at cracking down on copper cable and metal theft, adversely affecting the efficient operations of state-owned entities such as the logistics company Transnet railways and electricity provider Eskom due to the rampant theft of precious metals and steel scrap from public infrastructure.