Two men caught red-handed cutting Telkom’s cables back in 2020 were sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Pretoria North magistrate’s court this week.
Joel Kabene (34) and July Sithole (34), were sentenced to 15 years in prison for tampering with essential infrastructure.
The two Mozambicans were also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for being in the country illegally.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the sentences would run concurrently.
“The two were arrested on 15 December 2020, after they were caught by members of the Combined Private Investigations (CPI), between the N4 bridge and Willem Cruywagen Street, cutting copper cables belonging to Telkom,” Mahanjana said.
She said damaged cables were valued at R10 000. The tampering by the accused affected the state-owned entity’s internet and data lines.
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Mahanjana said Kabene and Sithole pleaded not guilty in court.
“The NPA accepts the sentence and believes that it goes a long way in bringing such economic saboteurs to book.
“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, this type of crime is considered a priority by the NPA.”
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The police continue to crack the whip on cable thieves looting from state-owned entities.
Recently, police arrested a 43-year-old Eskom staffer and a contractor for alleged theft of cables worth R335 000 in the east of Pretoria.
The power utility has over the past years had problems with infrastructure theft.
Eskom head of security, Advocate Karen Pillay, previously said various state-owned companies, Eskom, Transnet, Prasa and Telkom combined, lost more than R7 billion a year to cable theft.
“Cable theft continuously affects business operations and hampers the provision of basic essential services to industry and to communities,” Pillay said.
“This exacerbates localised power cuts and the implementation of load-shedding.”
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