Notorious thieves each get 10-year-jail sentence

THREE notorious thieves from Bulawayo have been sentenced to 10 years in jail each for stealing 61,2kgs of copper cables along the Plumtree-Bulawayo Highway.
Vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure is rampant across the country and recently the border town of Plumtree has suffered prolonged blackouts that have also crippled water supplies by the local authority due to theft of copper cables.

Hloniphani Ncube (41) and Stand Njuvu (35), both of 10948 Cowdray Park and Nkosizile Sibanda (20), of 1846 Rangemore, will spend the next 10 years behind bars for the offence.
Officer Commanding police in Bulilima and Mangwe Districts, Chief Superintendent Cabinet Thomas confirmed the arrest and sentence of the gang.

He said the trio were also passively linked to another case of copper cable theft that happened on September 14 this year along the same highway. “On October 12, two accused persons Hloniphani Ncube (41) and Stand Njuvu (35) pulled down a mounted ZETDC transformer from the poles, opened it and removed copper windings and cables,” said the senior police officer.

“The duo carried their loot and hid them at a distance from the scene. Upon receipt of the report, police in Figtree and detectives from Plumtree with the help of members of the public tracked the spoor from the scene.
“They stumbled upon the hidden copper cables. The team tracked further up until they caught up with the accused who were making efforts to arrange transport to ferry the loot.

“They were arrested and the accused persons implicated Nkosizile Sibanda, and Betwell Magagula of plot 7 Cranemore Umguza and Jonathan Mapfumo (52) of 4701, Emakhandeni Bulawayo,” he said.
Chief Supt Thomas said the trio were being charged under the Electricity Act, tampering with Zesa apparatus meant for generating, transmitting and distribution of electricity.

The accused persons appeared at Plumtree Magistrates court on Wednesday.
Jonathan Mapfumo and Betwell Magagula who were implicated by the trio but were not actively involved in the commission of the crime appeared as state witnesses.

“Police in Bulilima-Mangwe District are intensifying patrols and taking theft of copper cables with serious concern. We appeal to members of the public to report any suspicious people roaming around the ZETDC power utility infrastructures as the theft of copper cables has become prevalent of late,” said Chief Supt Thomas. — @themkhust.