Four men from Cloetesville in Stellenbosch were sentenced to 15 years’ imprsionment on Friday 19 January for theft of copper cables on the Firgrove railway line in Somerset West.
According to Sergeant Suzan Jantjies, spokesperson for Somerset West police, the four suspects were caught by an official working for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) on Monday 11 December at 17:25.
“The complainant spotted a vehicle standing on the railway network,” he related. “He drove and parked his vehicle in front of the blue Ford Fiesta. Inside the vehicle were three occupants and one man was walking on the railway tracks. He requested the men to open the boot of the vehicle. Inside he found one roll of copper contact cable and 22 pieces of chopped copper cables to the value of R124 000.”
All of the suspects were arrested and the copper cables were seized.
“The case docket theft of non-ferrous metal and tampering/damage/destroying of essential infrastructure was investigated against the four suspects. The case docket was assigned to Detective Sergeant Berchill Allies for investigation. The officer conducted a sterling investigation by ensuring that none of the suspects were granted bail.” Acting Station Commander, Detective Lieutenant Colonel Sizakele Hantibi welcomed the sentencing of the accused and congratulated the detective for the outstanding conviction.
“Colonel Hantibi mentioned that the sentencing will send a strong message to the community that stealing essential infrastructure will get you behind bars,” added Jantjies.
Joel Janse (29), Justin Joseph (55), Desroy Rapuline (27) and Bradley van Wyk (42) will spend 15 years behind bars. The four were declared unfit to possess a firearm.
