31 suspects were arrested for cable theft related to City Power since January 2025.
Two men were sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, aged 33 and 34.
Fortune Moyo (33) and Prince Mbazima (34), both Zimbabwean nationals, were arrested for cable theft, convicted and sentenced by the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on 20 February 2025.
They were caught red-handed digging up City Power cables in the inner city, on the 12 June 2024.
Their sentence includes an additional four years, suspended for five years, on the condition that they do not reoffend.
City Power’s Isaac Mangena, said this sentencing follows closely on the heels of another major conviction in February 2025, when Lesotho nationals Pitso Motjotjo and Lekgetho Khoatsana were sentenced to 10 years’
imprisonment by the Alexandra Wynberg Regional Court for tampering with essential infrastructure.
He also said three more suspects were arrested in two separate incidents that occurred on Friday, 28 February, and Monday, 03 March 2025.
“In the most recent incident, a 27-year-old suspect was arrested along the N12 freeway in
Naturena for tampering with essential infrastructure and cable theft. A patrol van from
Booysens SAPS apprehended the suspect in possession of a 2-metre-long, 16mm, 4-core
pole-to-ground aluminium cable. He has been booked at Mondeor SAPS and is expected to
appear before the local Magistrates’ Court. The case, registered under CAS No. 08/03/2025,
remains under investigation.”
Meanwhile, on 28 February 2025, another suspect was seen pushing a trolley loaded with burned and unburned aluminium cables in Booysens Reserve. Upon questioning, the suspect, Abel Sihlangu (46), claimed to have found the cables in Riverlea. He was charged with possession of stolen infrastructure.
In a separate incident, Johannesburg Central police arrested Thapelo Manduma, a Free State
resident, after he and two accomplices were seen digging up 53.5 metres of 185mm x 3-core
copper cable on Carr Street in Newtown. While his two partners in crime managed to escape,
Manduma was caught and detained at Johannesburg Central Police Station. His case, along with that of the other two suspects, is proceeding in Magistrates’ Courts.
“City Power extends its deepest gratitude to law enforcement, including SAPS, Gauteng Crime
Prevention Wardens, JMPD, Community Police Forums (CPFs), and other private security
firms involved in rooting out the scourge of cable theft and tampering with essential
infrastructure” said Mangena.