The roll of burned electricity cables that belong to eThekwini Municipality that were recovered during the arrest of the three suspects in uMkhomazi in 2022. The municipality has welcomed the sentencing of the three including a former subcontractor of the metro.
A former eThekwini Municipality subcontractor has been sentenced to 15 years' direct imprisonment by the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court after being convicted of damaging critical infrastructure and possessing stolen electricity cables valued at approximately R1 million.
The 37-year-old was employed as a municipal subcontractor when he and two accomplices were caught stripping and burning municipal electricity cables near the uMkhomazi Police Station.
The court found all three guilty of damaging essential infrastructure and possessing stolen municipal property. The former subcontractor two co-accused, a 26-year-old man, received three years' direct imprisonment, while a 63-year-old woman was sentenced to five years' direct imprisonment.
The eThekwini Municipality's Electricity and Energy Directorate has welcomed the conviction and sentencing of three describing it as a significant victory in the City's ongoing fight against infrastructure crime.
