4 Zimbos caged 49 years each for theft of rail equ...

4 Zimbos caged 49 years each for theft of rail equipment

Zim Now Writer

Four Zimbabweans, Nelson Chama, 31, Artwell Chakaraya, 31, Blessing Matongo, 35, and Ophius Marindire, 32, have been sentenced to 49 years each when they appeared before South Africa’s Thabazimbi Regional Court.

The quartet was convicted of stealing parts of a railway line and rail communication equipment valued at R200,000 in 2023.

The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, praised the court’s decision.

Their sentences include 30 years for tampering with and destroying essential infrastructure, 15 years for theft of ferrous or non-ferrous metals, and 2 years for illegal entry into South Africa.

The crime occurred on May 10, 2023, when the men cut off a section of the TransNet Railway line near Dwaalboom and the suspects were arrested later that day after being found in possession of stolen copper cables.