An unnamed man who was conducting prayers in a bushy area near Greenlands farm in Umguza spotted copper cable thieves hiding their loot in a swampy area and notified the police.
Police in Bulawayo said the whistle-blower was praying on Wednesday last week when he saw the accused person, Tyson Ncube (27), who was driving a Toyota Hilux dropping two accused people about 50m away from where he was praying.
The two allegedly started rolling and hiding copper cables in a swamp area while Ncube drove off.
The resident who was conducting prayers stopped Ncube as he was about to drive away and apprehended him.
Ncube was interviewed by the police but denied any wrongdoing.
However, police officers searched the area and they recovered an orange electricity marshalling kiosk, a black electricity breaker, two cooling fans on the ground, and four by 50-meter ZESA underground copper cables which were hidden in a swamp.
The <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/prayer-warrior-gets-copper-cable-thief-arrested/">Sunday News</a> quoted the Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson in Bulawayo Province as saying:
<blockquote>
Police are appealing to members of the public to report all suspicious persons who might be dealing in illegal copper, and anyone found tampering with electricity equipment at any nearest police station.
We also appeal to anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the remaining two accused persons who are still at large to report at any nearest police station.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Praying Man Gets Copper Cables Thief Arrested

A Zimbabwean man has been jailed for 15 years for the theft of copper cables from a farm in Limpopo, according to <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/zim-man-gets-15-years-in-jail-for-copper-cable-theft-5719058f-bab7-4da0-9099-26d65113c014">IOL</a>.
The Musina Regional Court found the Zimbabwean national, Shepard Munorwa, 30, guilty of tampering with essential infrastructure, theft of copper relating to essential infrastructure, and illegal immigration.
What happened:
Munorwa and his accomplice stole electric cables from a private farm and were caught by a security company. However, the accomplice managed to escape the scene, according to the National Prosecuting Authority.
The theft of the cables interrupted basic service delivery on the farm.
What transpired in court:
During the trial, the Zimbabwean national pleaded not guilty to the offences. 
State prosecutor, Jan Krijt, submitted that the country was currently experiencing unprecedented levels of cable theft.
Krijt argued that the owner of the farm had suffered a loss of R500 000 in past years as a result of cable theft and had even appointed a security company (to stop the ongoing theft.
The prosecutor further submitted that there were no substantial or compelling circumstances to reduce the prescribed minimum sentence.
Therefore, the court jailed the Zimbabwean national for 15 years for tampering with essential infrastructure, theft and illegal immigration.
The court ordered the sentence in counts one, two and three to run concurrently. They further declared the accused unfit to possess a firearm. 
Theft of Copper Cables in SA: 
Like in Zimbabwe, copper cable theft is a big issue in South Africa, where criminals steal copper cables from infrastructure like electricity and communication networks. 
This causes problems like power outages and communication disruptions. The theft is driven by the high demand for copper, which is used in many products. 
The government has tried to tackle the problem through law enforcement and regulations for scrap metal dealers, but the issue persists. Some municipalities are trying to use alternative materials to deter thieves.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

South Africa: Zimbabwean Man Jailed 15 Years For Theft

ZESA has blamed the government for the theft of electricity copper cables around the country.
ZESA General Manager Loss Control, Festo Madembo, said the issuance of copper dealership licenses and copper export licenses by the government was perpetuating vandalism of electricity infrastructure.
Madembo made the remarks during a stakeholders meeting organised by the power company in Bulawayo, Thursday, reported <a href="https://cite.org.zw/zesa-blames-copper-cables-theft-on-govt-policy/">CITE</a>.
Madembo argued that it was not proper for the government to continue issuing copper licences when the country has not been mining copper for the past three years. He said:
<blockquote>
According to reports, copper mines are now deep and the quality is very poor resulting in great demand.
This is what is driving unscrupulous people to vandalise our copper from national infrastructure. Zimbabwe’s copper mine was shut down about twenty-three years ago.
We have the Ministry of Home Affairs which is issuing copper dealership licenses to non-manufacturing and non-copper mining companies. These may be scrap dealers.
Some of these people turn out to vandalize our property. How can we have a copper dealership in a country that doesn’t mine copper?
We also have the Ministry of Industry and Commerce issue copper export licenses to individuals to export copper that is not being mined in the country.
We are saying as ZESA why we issue these dealerships and licenses. These two ministries are issuing vandalism.
There are companies in South Africa that manufacture copper coils which are required for transformer manufacturing.
We have a local subsidiary company that manufactures transformers.
They queue for forex at RBZ and purchase copper coils from South Africa which would have been stolen from Zimbabwe, so basically, we are buying our own copper.
</blockquote>
Madembo revealed that in 2021, the company manufactured 281 transformers and during the same year, 288 transformers were stolen.

ZESA Blames Copper Cables Theft On Government Policy

Two Harare men were on Wednesday sentenced to 10 years in jail for stealing Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) copper cables.
They were part of a four-member gang which included a 16-year-old, The Standard reported.
There was a separation of trial after Richard Dzinzi and Reward Sibanda pleaded guilty to the charge leading to their conviction and sentence. Reads the state outline:
<blockquote>
The following accused persons were arrested for possession of 25 cut pieces of 3 core armoured cable in Westgate area; Sibanda (53) of 93 Engineering Highfields, Richard Dzinzi (35) of Turnleaf Farm Westgate, Amos Dzinzi (16) of Turnleaf Farm and Tafadzwa Phiri (27) of 497 Nehanda Ext RRB 5409688 Marlborough.
</blockquote>
Phiri and Amos Dzinzi pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody until Tuesday for routine remand. 
The accused persons had no legal representation.
In October last year, the government gazetted the <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/zimbabwe-independent-complaints-commission-act-copper-control-amendment-act-gazetted/">Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission Act and the Copper Control Amendment Act [Chapter 10:34] (No. 5 of 2022)</a>, which introduced new, more severe penalties.
Organisations such as ZESA, TelOne, Econet, Telecel, NetOne, and the National Railways of Zimbabwe tell tales of loss of business due to the effects of copper cable theft that has been spreading uncontrolled.
Households too are affected as they are left to spend days without power and are sometimes asked to pull resources together for the purchase of copper cables.
It is suspected most of the stolen cables are being smuggled to South Africa and they are then shipped further to countries that use the metal in the construction and manufacturing industries.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

Copper Cable Thieves Sentenced To 10 Years In Jail

The Zimbabwe Electricity, Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) says residents are not forced to buy cables to replace those that would have been stolen and can wait for the power utility to source and replace them.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/residents-not-forced-to-buy-replacement-cables-zetdc/">The Sunday News</a>, ZETDC Western region manager Lloyd Jaji, however, said residents with the capacity to contribute will have their accounts credited with their contributions.
This comes after residents of Hillside and Hillcrest in Bulawayo alleged that the power company was forcing them to buy replacement cables from a company called Cafca.
After another cable was stolen in the area, ZETDC staff allegedly suggested to the residents that they buy the replacement cable.
Residents living along Durham, Cambridge, Hereford, Buckingham, part of Leicester and part of Stafford roads say they have endured cable theft since December last year. One of the residents said:
<blockquote>
As a block, we have contributed more than eight times with some families having contributed close to US$100 as it is.
We have never been reimbursed since January and our plight is that ZESA (ZETDC’s parent company) works with Cafca and harvest all the copper in exchange for aluminium. We have engaged ZESA but we have not been assisted.
</blockquote>
Jaji denied allegations that ZETDC was colluding with Cafca, the company that supplies aluminium cables. He said:
<blockquote>
If we do not remove the copper, they will steal it anyway. After that, we then have to buy replacement cables from our resources.
Being proactive we came up with a programme to replace the copper before it’s stolen so we recoup some value from it.
To support the programme, we went to tender nationally for a supplier of aluminium cables in exchange for copper and that tender was won by Cafca.
The cables that are at stores and were supplied by Cafca are therefore contractually tied. In the meantime, where thieves have stolen, we must source replacement cables using other funding mechanisms.
If at the time of the theft, we do not have such cables in stock, clients have two options — one is to wait for us to source the cables or if they cannot wait and have the capacity, they can buy and supply the required quantity and as compensation, we then credit their accounts.
</blockquote>

Residents Not Forced To Buy Replacement ZESA Cables, Says ZETDC

Police in Kwekwe have arrested Romeo Rodgers Shava, who is alleged to be behind a series of copper cable theft cases in the town, following an ambush on one of his runners in Newton.
ZBC News reports that preliminary investigations reveal that an ambush laid by TelOne in the Newton area led to the arrest of 22-year-old Robert Mtetwa, who implicated Shava as his recruiter.
Mtetwa, who was apprehended while in the company of six others, five of whom are on the run, was handed over to Kwekwe CID for investigations.
He confessed to stealing TelOne copper cables along Burma Road in Kwekwe, two days before his arrest. He also showed detectives a place where they burnt the stolen cables.
Mtetwa also indicated that Shava would drop them at designated places to steal TelOne copper cables and they would call him to pick them up after cutting and pulling out the cables.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing TelOne copper cables and was remanded in custody for sentencing.
Meanwhile, Shava was dragged to Gokwe regional magistrate court facing two counts of stealing TelOne copper cables, but he denied the charges.
The magistrate remanded him in custody until the 29th of September. If found guilty of theft of TelOne cables or vandalism of TelOne infrastructure, he will be sentenced to a minimum jail term of 10 years.
<h2>Some Context:</h2>
Copper cable theft has grown into a pandemic in Zimbabwe, particularly for the electricity, telecommunications, and railway parastatals.
Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/ZESA">ZESA</a> claimed that it had lost US$256 million in stolen materials, additional millions in replacement infrastructure and in security mitigation for the same period.
Households are also feeling the heat as they spend days without power and are sometimes asked to pull resources together for the purchase of copper cables.
It is suspected most of the stolen cables are being smuggled to South Africa and they are then shipped further to countries that use the metal in the construction and manufacturing industries.
<h2><a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a></h2>

Police Bust A Syndicate Targeting Copper Cables

A teacher in Zaka District, Masvingo Province, is one of the four suspected members of a syndicate remanded in prison last week over copper cables theft.
Olivia Muchekeza, a teacher at Gumbu Primary School in Zaka, and her alleged accomplices were arrested on allegations of stealing 30.5kgs of four core armoured cables and 26.5kgs of copper rewinds.
Muchekeza’s lawyer Tafadzwa Mbwachena of Ruvengo Maboke and Partners argued that she was not part of the syndicate.
Mbwachena told magistrate Ritaiswe Silaigwana that Muchekeza only provided space for storage of the cables after being asked by the key suspect.
Muchekeza appeared in court last week on Wednesday and was remanded to 4 June 2022.
The State led by Tarisai Muvengi is opposing bail arguing that the charges faced by the four are serious and they could abscond if granted bail.
However, Mbwachena argued that Muchekeza was unlikely to abscond as she was gainfully employed as a teacher.
He also submitted that his client owns a house at number 16205 Gwara Street, Runyararo West and therefore has more to lose if she absconds.
Muchekeza’s co-accused are Fanuel Moyo, Kenneth Makotose and Bernad Mufanebadza.
Muvengi told the court that on 22 May 2022, police received a tip-off that the alleged syndicate was involved in copper theft.
Following investigations, police found the accused persons loading cables in a Toyota Honda Fit parked outside Muchekeza’s house.
Mbwachena is also representing the other three suspects and he made bail arguments for Moyo and Makotose and will make representations for Mufanebadza at a later stage.
Mbwachena submitted that Makotose, who is a taxi driver did not know anything about the alleged theft.
He said Makotose was only asked by Mufanebadza to provide transport for undisclosed luggage.
He further argued that Moyo who is employed as a security guard by Shynetime was called by Mufanebadza to assist in carrying the heavy sacks.
<h4>More: <a href="https://masvingomirror.com/zaka-female-teacher-remanded-over-copper-theft/">The Mirror</a></h4>

Female Teacher In Court Over Copper Cables Theft

A police constable and a soldier are among suspects who were taken to court on allegations of stealing Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) cables around Odzi since 2019.
The vandalism of electricity infrastructure resulted in constant blackouts and affected agricultural production in the farming area.
The two were named as Jacob Mazungunye (29) who is stationed at ZRP Sakubva and Munyaradzi Nyamukungwa (37), a soldier with ZNA 3 Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Company.
Their alleged accomplices are Frank Nyahando (23) of Tenderere, Sakubva, and Peter Zuze (36) of Area 14 in Dangamvura. Detectives are looking for the fifth suspect who disappeared following the arrest of his accomplices.
The suspects were all charged with contravening Section 60A (3) (b) of the Electricity Amendment Act, Chapter 13:19 and brought to court separately on different dates.
They recently appeared before Mutare magistrates Langton Carter and Prisca Manhibi and were remanded in custody.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.manicapost.co.zw/cop-soldier-behind-zesa-cables-thefts/">The Manica Post</a></h4>

Police Officer, Soldier Behind ZESA Cables Theft

A Norton-based man has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of unlawful possession of 72 metres of copper cables belonging to the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/ZESA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)</a>.
Edson Chiwara (24) appeared at the Harare magistrates’ courts before Magistrate Learnmore Mapiye who handed down the 10-year-sentence.
Chiwara pleaded to being found in possession of Zesa cables at the Criminal Investigation Department Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit on December 21, 2019. He said:
<blockquote>I was arrested by the police whilst l was carrying the cables aboard a commuter omnibus. I stole cables at Afro-China where there is construction going on.</blockquote>
The convict was stopped by police officers who were manning a roadblock at Harare showgrounds along Samora Machel avenue while aboard a Nissan Caravan.
Police checked the vehicle and discovered the 90-kilogram sack of the cables. Chiwara was arrested after failing to produce a permit which allowed him to possess the copper.
<h4>More: <a href="https://zimmorningpost.com/norton-man-caught-with-72m-zesa-cable-sentenced-10-years-in-jail/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zim Morning Post</a></h4>

Man Jailed 10 Year For Stealing 70kg ZESA Cables

A man from Bulawayo was sentenced to 10 years in prison after stealing copper cables belonging to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) in Lochview suburb.
Taona Maparara (32) was in the company of Tatenda Nyandoro and Marufu Marufu, (both already serving 10-year jail terms) when they stole 13 kilogrammes of copper cables valued at $160.
Maparara appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Joseph Mabeza charged with cutting, damaging, destroying and interfering with apparatus for the generation, transmission and distribution and supply of electricity. He pleaded not guilty.
The crime was committed on April 3 this year at around 1 AM, when residents experienced a sudden power cut in Lochview.
The prosecutor, Thobekani Mthombeni, said a resident and his son drove into the night to investigate the cause behind the power outage when they encountered the trio.
The saw a Honda Fit they suspected that criminals were using. After pursuing the car, the duo, having alerted other residents, apprehended Marufu while Maparara and Nyandoro escaped. The duo was eventually arrested and dragged to court.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/man-gets-10-years-for-copper-theft/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chronicle</a></h4>

Man Jailed 10 Years For Stealing ZESA Copper Cables

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said in a statement that a suspected electricity cables thief was electrocuted in Marondera after cutting off 450 metres of copper cables. Said the ZRP:
<blockquote>In as many days, yet another man’s body was discovered with burns on 01/09/16 in Marondera. 
It is suspected that he was electrocuted after he tried to cut a live ZESA cable. About 450m of copper cables was recovered at the scene.
Theft of cables has a negative impact on the agricultural sector which relies on electricity for irrigation.</blockquote>
In an unrelated incident, police revealed that four thieves were arrested after stealing batteries from an Econet booster at Dune Village in Sadza district.
<blockquote>An alert security guard who observed 4 criminals breaking into an Econet Booster at Dune Village, Sadza quickly informed the police leading to the arrest of the suspects. The criminals stole 24 batteries which were all recovered upon arrest.
They were taken to court and 3 have since been convicted and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment while the case against one is pending.</blockquote>

Copper Cables Thief Electrocuted In Marondera

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has warned the public against tampering with copper cables as this affects the livelihood of industry, hospital, schools among others. Police said in a statement:
<blockquote>Five male adults, David Mafambirangaru (33), Elliot Maulana (27), Reason Baisa (21), Munyaradzi Gomedi (27) and Godknows (23) have been arrested in connection with a case of theft of copper cables which occurred at Lake Chivero on 16th June 2019 around 1600 hours.
The accused persons dug out 70 metres of copper cables valued at RTGS$5 000.00, which were connected to the water pump in the lake, and it was recovered hidden in the bush.
Members of the public are warned not to tamper with valuable infrastructure which affects the livelihood of industry, hospital, schools and other important economic activities.</blockquote>

FULL TEXT: 5 Arrested For Stealing Copper Cables At Lake Chivero

The Zimbabwe Republic Police said in a statement that it recently intercepted a 7-tonne truck loaded with aluminium cables suspected to be ZESA property at a roadblock along the Harare – Masvingo highway.
The police warned members of the public against vandalising essential infrastructure.
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