Zimbabwean jailed 7 years for pipeline sabotage in South Africa

 

A Zimbabwean citizen, Shepard Vareni (38), has been handed a seven-year sentence for pipeline sabotage by the Vrede Regional Court in South Africa. Vareni received two concurrent seven-year sentences for damaging essential infrastructure and stealing crude oil in an incident that occurred on September 25, 2025, near Memel.

The court also fined him R5,000 or imposed an alternative three months' imprisonment for violating the Immigration Act and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

The sentencing follows an operation where security personnel and local police apprehended two suspects after being alerted to crude oil theft from a Transnet pipeline.

Investigations showed that Vareni and his accomplices had tampered with the pipeline, causing substantial damage to critical national infrastructure.

Vareni's co-accused, Felix Magatu (43), is set to face trial on January 19-20, 2026. 

Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, head of South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, welcomed the sentence, praising the investigating officer's work.