File image. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/ African News Agency (ANA)
THE CAPE Town High Court this week sentenced five thieves on 50 counts of copper cable theft related charges to a cumulative 1 250 years’ imprisonment.
The cables belonged to both Eskom and Telkom and were stolen between 2016 and 2018 in Namaqualand in the Northern Cape and in regions in the Western Cape.
The shortest jail term meted out to some of the thieves is a minimum sentence of 15 years.
“We hope that the hefty sentences meted out shall send a strong message to all potential thieves to refrain from targeting Eskom overhead and underground conductor cables,” Eskom said in a statement.
“We shall work fearlessly and tirelessly with other industry role players and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all thieves involved in essential infrastructure crimes face the full might of the law,” said Advocate Karen Pillay, Eskom’s Acting Head of Security.
“Section 3 of the Criminals Matters Amendment Act stipulates that any person found guilty of essential infrastructure crime such as cable theft shall be liable on conviction to a period of imprisonment up to 30 years,” Pillay added.