On Thursday 19 October 2023, Newcastle Regional Court convicted and sentenced four accused for possession of stolen copper cable. The four accused were arrested by Kingsley Visible Policing members in January last year when they were doing patrols around Blood River area. Police stopped the vehicle with four occupants and a search was conducted. During the search 120 kilogram of copper cable to the street value of approximately R128 640.00 was found in the vehicle.
A case of possession of property suspected to be stolen was registered at Kingsley police station and the case docket was allocated to the Hawks members from Newcastle Serious Organised Crime Investigation for intensive investigation. During investigation, it was established that the copper cable was stolen from Transnet railway lines at Hlobane.
The accused were placed under arrest and their bail was opposed successfully, as a result they were in custody since then. Sipho Nkosi (32) was sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment, Mxolisi Dlodlo (33) was also sentenced to 10 years direct imprisonment, Nkanyiso Shwala (35) was sentenced to 8 years direct imprisonment and Shumakhe Shabangu (67) was sentenced to 5 years direct imprisonment. All accused were declared unfit to possess firearm.
The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Provincial Head, Major General (Dr) Lesetja Senona welcomed the sentence and applauded the investigating as well as the prosecution team for the good work. “Damage to essential infrastructure is a serious problem in this country, Hawks members will ensure that thieves are brought to book and receive jail term,” he said.
Content retrieved from: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=49102.
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