A 53-year-old man, who is a contractor staff member, was recently convicted at the Durban Magistrate’s Court for possession of suspected stolen property, including electricity cables and a street light.

“The arrest occurred in 2023 during a co-ordinated operation that involved an inspection of a scrap dealer’s premises, where stolen municipal property was discovered. Further investigations prompted additional inspections. These inspections uncovered two rolls of eThekwini Municipality cables, additional street light components, and evidence of illegal cable processing at the suspect’s residence,” the City said in a statement.

Director of the Energy Management Directorate, Philani Shange, expressed disappointment at the involvement of a contractor staff in such criminal activities.

“It is disheartening to witness individuals who are contracted to assist the Municipality in delivering essential services choosing to engage in theft instead. Their actions not only undermine the integrity of our workforce, but also hinder our efforts to improve service delivery to our communities,” said Shange.

The City said in addition to this recent conviction, two other individuals were sentenced late last year for related offences, where a 44-year-old man was found guilty of possessing suspected stolen electricity cables and received a three-year imprisonment sentence, wholly suspended for five years.

In a separate case, a 32-year-old man was convicted of tampering with essential infrastructure and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with half of the sentence suspended for five years.

The Energy Management Directorate vowed to ensure that perpetrators of infrastructure theft are brought to justice, reinforcing the message that such criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.

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