The Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court has sentenced two men to 15 years in prison for cable theft.
Joel Kabene and July Sithole, who are both aged 34, were arrested in December 2020. This after the Mozambican nationals were caught cutting Telkom copper cables on the N4 bridge and William Cruywangen Street in Pretoria.
This affected Internet data lines.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says the men were also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for being in the country illegally.
“The magistrate ordered the sentence should run concurrently and they also be declared unfit to possess a firearm. The NPA accepts the sentence and believes that it goes a long way in bringing such economic saboteurs to book,” says Mahanjana.
“Damage to and tampering with essential infrastructure results in major service delivery interruptions as well as negatively impacting on businesses, communities, and the economy. It is estimated that cable theft costs the South African economy between R5 billion and R7 billion a year. For this reason, the NPA considers this crime type a priority.”
More details on the cable theft report below:
Due to cable theft, the City of Tshwane is plagued by frequent disruptions to the electricity supply of energy.
Residents from several country estates and residential complexes as well as business owners are up in arms over incessant power outages caused by the cable theft.
