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Man Receives 10-Year Sentence for Eskom Copper Cable Theft

Published

8 months ago

September 9, 2023

Man Receives 10-Year Sentence for Eskom Copper Cable Theft

A Ga-Rankuwa man, Ofentse Kau, who was captured on camera stealing copper cables from Eskom, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his criminal activities.

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Kau, aged 36, received a 15-year sentence from the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates Court in Pretoria after pleading guilty to the theft as reported by Briefly. In 2022, he was caught on surveillance cameras with 400 meters of commercial copper cables taken from the Eskom site in Ga-Rankuwa, which were meant for replacement. A security guard confronted him and subsequently handed him over to the police.

Kau has been in custody since his arrest, as he was denied bail following the incident. It has been reported that he will serve 10 years in jail as five years of his sentence were wholly suspended.

While the court has determined Kau’s sentence, some South Africans believe that it is too short, given the severity of the crime. Raveen Singh, for instance, suggested taking more comprehensive actions, such as closing down scrapyards and banning the sale of scrap metal, to address the issue at its root. According to Singh, scrapyards contribute to vandalism and theft by offering cash for stolen goods, often belonging to the state.