Woman arrested after melting Eskom cables to make pots
A 52-year-old woman, Nombango Claudia Mogiba, was remanded in custody by the Calcutta Magistrate’s Court on Monday after she was arrested for possession of suspected stolen property – Eskom cables and Transnet tarpaulin.
Mogiba was arrested by the Hawks’ Nelspruit-based serious organised crime investigation, working with other units of the South African Police Service, according to spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.
“It is alleged that on Monday, January 29, 2024, at approximately 8am, information was received from Combined Private Investigations (CPI) regarding a house in Mkhuhlu where copper cables were kept to be transported late at night. The team followed up on the information and went to the said address,” she said.
When the law enforcement team arrived at the house, the homeowner was not at home.
Upon her arrival, the homeowner was informed about the existence of a search warrant.
“She granted the team permission to search the premises. During the search, aluminium cables suspected to be from Eskom were found on the premises covered by tarpaulin belonging to Transnet. More rolls of aluminium cables were found next to the house, covered by tarpaulin,” said Sekgotodi.
Eskom officials were summoned to the crime scene and they identified the cables as Eskom property.
The black tarpaulin covering the aluminium cables was also confirmed to be Transnet property.
“A l ot of aluminium pots were also found in the house and outside the room, suspected to have been manufactured from the smelting of stolen cables,” said Sekgotodi.
The homeowner was arrested and charged for possession of suspected stolen property, the Eskom cables.
The suspect appeared before the Calcutta Magistrate’s Court on Monday, and the case was postponed to today for formal bail application.
In December, the Thabazimbi Regional Court in Limpopo convicted and sentenced two Zimbabwean nationals – Colin Mlambo, 35, and Andile Alfonso Ndlovu, 19, to 20 years of direct imprisonment each for charges of tampering with essential infrastructure.
Additionally, the two were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for theft of copper cables, plus two years imprisonment for contravening the Immigration Act.