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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
TWO Gokwe men who vandalised a transformer at a local milling company and stole 1 000kg of copper cables worth more than $20 000 were each sentenced to the mandatory 10 years in jail yesterday.
Ben Dziripi (52), a security guard at a local milling company and Stephen Mushaike (44), a member of the neighbourhood watch committee, were convicted by Gokwe provincial magistrate Mr Musaiona Shortgame in September last year on charges of copper theft and vandalising and interfering with apparatus for transmission, distribution or supply of electricity in terms of the Electricity Amendment Act.
However, since a lower court has no jurisdiction to pass the sentence, the matter was referred to the High Court in terms of section 226 of the Criminal Law Procedure and Evidence Act.
In passing the sentence, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva yesterday confirmed the conviction and ruled that there were no special circumstances that led the two men to commit the crime.
“You have been properly convicted in terms of Section 60 as read with Section 2 (3) of the Electricity Amendment Act. You committed a very serious offence by damaging a transformer which was at a milling company and moved 1 000kg of copper cables out of the premises in a scotch-cart.
The second accused person (Mushaike) is a member of the neighbourhood watch committee whose duties entail preventing crime in the area, but he turned into a criminal.
The court is satisfied with the trial proceedings and the circumstances that led to your conviction.
There are no special reasons for committing the crime and you are accordingly sentenced to the mandatory 10 years imprisonment as required by the law,” ruled Justice Takuva.
He said the two men were driven by greed to commit the crime.
“You stole out of greed and the first accused person who was employed as a security guard at the milling company facilitated the theft of the copper, which they took to Harare where they sold the loot,” Justice Takuva said.
The prosecutor, Ms Nokuthaba Ngwenya, said sometime in April last year, a ZETDC employee Mr Rufaro Mashingaidze received a tip-off that Dziripi and Mushaike were vandalising their transformers at Reebenz Milling Company in Gokwe.
Dziripi was a security guard at the milling company.
Mr Mashingaidze teamed up with police detectives and they went to the milling company.
On arrival, they discovered that 11 metres of copper windings weighing 1 000kg and valued at $20 418 were missing from the transformer.
—@mashnets
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu