A Transnet Engineering (TE) employee has been arrested and is due to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on charges of cable theft.
Following a joint operation with the company’s security personnel, a Bloemfontein region-based employee was arrested as he left his place of work at the end of the shift on Monday last week after being found with concealed pieces of locomotive traction motor cables in his possession.
Transnet, working with law enforcement agencies, has intensified the fight against cable theft in recent months, and the collaboration is continuing to yield results, according to a statement released today.
In February, eight suspects, including Transnet employees, were arrested at the Koedoespoort Infrastructure Maintenance depot in Pretoria for various incidents of copper cable theft.
“Cable theft is a serious concern for Transnet Engineering and adversely affects the company’s capacity to deliver on its freight mandate.
“These arrests demonstrate that Transnet Engineering will not tolerate the economic sabotage caused by cable theft or the tampering and damaging of essential infrastructure as defined in the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, Act 18 of 2015, and sends a strong message to those who are involved in such criminal activities that they will be arrested and prosecuted, with the prospect of lengthy jail time.”
Scams can be reported on the anonymous toll-free fraud hotline number 0800 003 056 or email Transnet@tip-offs.com.
