Durban — Three brothers charged with the theft of copper cable have been sentenced in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court.
Mmeli Nene, 26, Khanyisani Sphamandla Nene, 25, and Mxolisi Nene, 31, were each sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment by Magistrate Ravi Pillay on Thursday.
The trio were charged with tampering, damaging, or destroying essential infrastructure. They also faced another count of theft.
The State alleges that on November 9, 2021, at the Duffs Road Railways Station in KwaMashu, the accused unlawfully and intentionally tampered with, damaged, or destroyed essential infrastructure.
They were allegedly found with approximately 35m of overhead copper electrical cables supplying power or electricity to trains that was the property of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa). The value of the cables is estimated at R6 300.
The State alleges that the accused knew or ought to have reasonably known or suspected that this was essential infrastructure. During the trial, the State argued that the accused all acted for a common purpose in the furtherance of the crime committed.
They were also made aware that if convicted they possibly faced a minimum sentence of 15 years, and if the court found that they were not first offenders it could deviate from this minimum sentence and hand them a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.
Meanwhile last month the government announced an extension of its ban on the export of copper and copper-alloy scrap, as well as most ferrous scrap metal as part of the first phase of a three-phase intervention designed to combat the rampant theft of metals used in public infrastructure.
The extension on the ban was recently gazetted by Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel.
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