Cable theft syndicate sentenced
4 April 2023
The High Court of South Africa: Western Cape Division has sentenced five members of a Johannesburg-based syndicate that stole Telkom, Transnet, and Eskom overhead copper cables worth millions of rands between 2012 and 2015. The syndicate members, Malome Matsetela, Amos Ngobeni, Samuel Ngwenya, Linda Malopi and Wilson Khoza were also convicted and sentenced on racketeering and money laundering charges.
Matsetela was sentenced to 77 years imprisonment for theft of overhead copper cables, racketeering and money laundering. For the of overhead copper cables between Pofadder and Kenhard, Steinkopf and Port Nolloth, Bedfordview, Malvern East in Gauteng and Stanhope in Malvern, Malome was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment. The court sentenced him to 27 years imprisonment for racketeering and 10 years imprisonment for four counts of money laundering. The court ordered some of the sentences to run concurrently leaving Malome to serve an effective 18-year imprisonment.
Ngobeni was sentenced to 39 years imprisonment in total, but the court ordered some of the sentences to run concurrently. He was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for racketeering, 23 years imprisonment for theft of overhead cables between Oudtshoorn and Prins Albert, Pofadder and Kenhardt, Steinkopf and Port Nolloth and in Williston. He was further sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for four counts of money laundering. He is going to serve an effective 15-year imprisonment.
Ngwenya received to 8 years imprisonment for racketeering, 27 years imprisonment for theft of overhead copper cables between Pofadder and Kenhardt, Steinkopf and Port Nolloth and Williston. He was handed a further 10 years imprisonment for four counts of money laundering. He will serve an effective 8-year imprisonment after some of his sentences in the combined 35 years imprisonment were ordered to run concurrently.