Tinos Ndebele has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted on charges of tampering with essential infrastructure as well as theft from essential infrastructure.
On June 8, 2023, an alarm went off at a Telkom cellphone tower in Roodewal. Telkom officials went to the scene and found that the tower's fence was damaged and a container had been broken into. Twelve batteries amounting to R36 000 were stolen from the container.
According to the Free State National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), a police forensic team was called in and fingerprints were lifted from the crime scene.
“The fingerprints lifted matched those of the accused. Through diligent police investigations, the accused was traced and arrested,” said the NPA.
In his defence during the trial, the accused explained that he was a snake catcher and on the day of the incident he was chasing a King Cobra that went into the container. This explained why his fingerprints were found at the crime scene.
Regional Court Prosecutor Petro van den Berg argued that the court should sentence the accused to the maximum sentence for this criminality, as tampering with essential infrastructure offences were on the increase and harming the economy and lives of citizens, as well as affecting the running of the country.
The Bloemfontein Regional Court found him guilty of tampering with essential infrastructure and theft from infrastructure.
He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on a charge of tampering with infrastructure and 15 years' imprisonment on a charge of theft from infrastructure.
The court ordered that five years of count 2, theft from infrastructure, run concurrently with count 1, effectively sentencing the accused to 30 years of direct imprisonment.
“The National Prosecuting Authority will continue to prioritise the prosecution of crime and criminals that disproportionately undermine South Africans’ safety, the country’s socio-economic well-being, the functioning of the economy of the country, and compromise the well-being of the citizenry and the rule of law,” said the NPA.
This latest case follows several recent sentences where courts have handed down long prison terms to criminals who have tampered with essential infrastructure, many involving the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) network.
In a case earlier this month Thabazimbi Regional Court handed down hefty prison sentences to four foreign nationals who stole essential infrastructure from TFR’s network.
Nelson Chama (31), Artwel Chakaraya (31), Blessing Mathongo (35), and Ophius Marindire (32), were each sentenced to 49 years’ imprisonment. They were found guilty of four charges: tampering, damaging or destroying essential infrastructure; the theft of ferrous or non-ferrous metals; entering South Africa without a valid passport; and failing to use a port of entry. – SAnews.gov.za
