Members of an organised copper cable theft syndicate who cost Eskom and Telkom millions of rand in losses and left thousands of residents in the dark without electricity were handed hefty sentences of between 15 and 20 years imprisonment in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the five members of the copper cable theft syndicate had raided Telkom, Eskom and small rural towns of copper cable, leaving thousands of residents without services for weeks at a time.
Kwame Harrison, Thomas Osei, Sipho Bila, Nhlanganiso Habe, Francisco Mandinde, David September and Anthony Chauke were found guilty of 50 criminal charges, including counts of racketeering, managing a criminal enterprise, conducting the affairs of a criminal enterprise, 18 counts of fraud, 15 counts of theft and 18 counts of money laundering.