ROUXVILLE – The Free State division of the high court, sitting in Rouxville, has sentenced a cell phone tower technician who turned to crime to 50 years’ imprisonment. The sentence was handed down to Sello Dichaba (43), recently 7 May after he had been found guilty on charges of damaging essential infrastructure and stealing copper cables from MTN and Vodacom.
Lt. Col Thabo Covane, Free State provincial police spokesperson, said Dichaba had been sentenced to a combined total of 50 years’ imprisonment on multiple counts of damage to essential infrastructure and two counts of theft from infrastructure.

“The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning the accused will effectively serve 20 years in prison. Dichaba was an individual who was uniquely positioned as a contracted technician employed to service cellphone towers for both major networks,” Covane said.

He stated that Dichaba’s sentencing related to a burglary at a cellphone tower site near Rouxville, where containers of MTN and Vodacom were forced open and copper cables were stolen in April 2025. “No immediate eyewitnesses or suspects were identified at the time,” he confirmed.
Bizarre circumstances surrounding the incident prompted a forensic investigation involving the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC), with results positively linking Dichaba to the crime.
Covane noted that two experienced investigators, WO Moeketsi Mohotsi and WO Krokkie Engelbrecht, were assigned to the case and that the conviction and sentencing followed seamless collaboration between these investigators and state prosecutor Adv. Keith Muller of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa.
“During the trial, the accused faced an insurmountable wall of scientific evidence and could not explain why his fingerprints were present at the scene,” Covane said.

Maj. Gen. Apaphia Modise, provincial head of Crime Detection, has commended the teamwork involving police officers, the LCRC experts and the NPA.
“This has ensured that an insider who abused his position of trust was brought to book. This conviction underscores the reality that science doesn’t lie. Even when no stolen property is physically recovered, our forensic capabilities ensure that criminals leave their calling cards behind,” said Modise.