A 52-year-old municipal electrician from the Nama Khoi Local Municipality is set to appear in the Springbok Regional Court, accused of being part of a syndicate involved in the theft and sale of copper cables.
A 52-YEAR-OLD municipal electrician is set to appear before the Springbok Regional Court after being served with a warrant by the Hawks’ Springbok-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation team. The court date is scheduled for December 3.
According to Northern Cape Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Tebogo Thebe, the accused, an employee of the Nama Khoi Local Municipality’s electricity directorate, is allegedly part of a syndicate that stole municipal copper cables and sold them to a local scrap yard.
Thebe said that in January 2018, the police received a tip-off about the theft of Nama Khoi Municipality copper cables. An enquiry was opened and during the investigation, a branded municipal vehicle was reportedly seen dropping off cables at the scrap yard.
Further investigation revealed that municipal electricians were allegedly requisitioning new cables under the guise of urgent repairs, only for the cables to be sold at the scrap yard. The municipality is estimated to have incurred damages of R150,000 as a result.
During the investigation, two suspects were identified. However, one passed away during the process.
Thebe said that information available to the Hawks indicates that the employees were dismissed by the municipality following an internal investigation.
