By Thys Khiba – Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo confirmed Kroonstad Magistrates’ Court convicted and sentenced Mojalefa Mphanya for theft of copper cables and tempering with essential infrastructure on Tuesday 27 September.
Mphanya is expected to serve eight years direct imprisonment since his sentence will run concurrently.
“His conviction originates from an incident which took place on 25 December 2021 where Isidingo security officials were conducting the morning patrol along the railway line in Kroonstad where they saw Mphanya stealing Transnet copper cables,” said Singo.
The 34-year-old was then, chased and caught by the security officials.
Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the area were informed about the incident by security officials.
“They then alerted the local police in Kroonstad who then came and arrested him.”
The case was handed over to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team based in Welkom which culminated to the conviction of Mphanya.
Meanwhile, it has been reported two major incidents of cable theft in September forced Transnet to close a line on the coal corridor down to Richards Bay for 18 hours, the state-owned logistics company said.
“At approximately 22:50 last night, Transnet Freight Rail’s North Corridor, which runs from Lephalale in Limpopo, through Gauteng and Mpumalanga, to Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal was hit by two major incidents of cable theft,” Transnet said in a statement.
CENTRAL NEWS
—————————————————————
DO YOU HAVE A NEWS STORY OR AN OPINION FOR CENTRAL NEWS: E-mail us : newsroom@centralnews.co.za or Whatsapp us on 0833989119