Copper heist earns Chinhoyi man 10 years in jail

WHAT began as a quiet early morning in Chinhoyi’s Cold Stream suburb was disrupted when electricity supplies were abruptly cut.

This inconvenience, however, was neither due to ZESA’s notorious load-shedding nor an electric fault. Actually, Rothman Changara (36), who lives in Ruvimbo Phase 2, thought it was good business to harvest electric copper cables and sell them.

But life is rarely as easy as that.

Changara’s early morning criminal enterprise was foiled when he was caught red-handed stealing the cables.

The court heard that the incident occurred around 3am on February 8.

A 53-year-old resident, who was asleep at his home, was awakened by a loud noise outside.

Minutes later, the electricity supply to his house was cut. When he stepped outside to investigate, he discovered that a 30-metre weatherdeck cable — which connects ZESA lines to his meter box — had been severed and stolen.

The resident teamed up with a neighbour to track down the cheeky thief. Their investigation led them to a distinct shoe print left at the crime scene.

Following the trail, the pair made their way to Gadzema Rank, a nearby area known for its early morning hustle and bustle. There, they spotted a lone figure tending a bonfire.

That figure turned out to be Changara.

As the two men approached, they realised that he was burning electric cables — a method commonly used to strip insulation and recover copper for illegal resale.

When they questioned him about the origin of the cables, Changara failed to provide a satisfactory answer.

Things quickly unravelled.

The shoe print at the crime scene matched the shoes he was wearing.

Police were alerted and responded swiftly.

Changara was arrested on the spot, and the burnt copper wires — weighing approximately 5 kilogrammes — were seized and taken to Zimpost, where they were weighed and verified.

The wire matched the stolen 30-metre cable in both quantity and description.

In court, the prosecution argued that Changara’s actions were deliberate, unlawful and posed a danger to public infrastructure and safety.

The magistrate agreed, and handed down the mandatory 10-year prison sentence for the theft and destruction of essential power supply materials.

Changara’s foolish quest for copper now means he will be staring at steel bars for the next decade.