The Green Energy Copper War taking place on the streets of South Africa | Foreign Correspondent

It's the billion-dollar crime you’ve never heard of – copper theft. And it's causing chaos in South Africa. Across the country police and armed private contractors are waging war on the criminals and gangs who are cashing in on one of the world’s most sought-after metals. On Foreign Correspondent reporter Tom Joyner embeds with South African law enforcement as they hunt down the thieves who are stealing copper from the country’s essential infrastructure. The crime is causing serious disruptions to energy supply, transportation and telecommunications. Copper is critical to the production of clean energy technology, but a global shortage is driving its price to record heights. A thriving black market for copper has emerged, encouraging criminals to risk their lives to steal it. Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5 About Foreign Correspondent: Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia's national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC's television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all. Welcome to ABC News In-depth, where you'll find our long-form journalism and other videos to help you understand what's going on in the world around you. Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Get breaking news and livestreams from our ABC News channel:    / newsonabc   Like ABC News on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC News on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Follow ABC News on Twitter:   / abcnews   Contributions may be removed if they violate ABC’s Online Terms of Use http://www.abc.net.au/conditions.htm (Section 3). This is an official Australian Broadcasting Corporation YouTube channel