Police Operation & Campaign Against Theft of Copper Cables a success

Bulawayo police operation and campaign against theft of copper cables on 09 February yields positive impact as two men have been arrested in Bulawayo for being found in possession of stolen 20kg ZESA Copper Cables as a result of a police operation and campaign focused on combating the theft of copper cables in the area.

Bulawayo Police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the arrest and said that accused individuals have been identified as Mandlenkosi Hlongwane (33) from New Magwegwe, and Danisa Matema (45) from Pumula South.

“Following the Police operation and campaigns on theft of copper cables, information was received that the accused persons were dealing in copper and scrap metal at Covenant Investment in Kelvin West, Bulawayo,” said Inspector Ncube.

Accused Persons

He added, “The police officers acted on the information and managed to locate the accused persons. They searched the business premises and recovered some copper windings, transformer windings and some copper scraps stashed in a 20kg sack hidden under the bed of a Scania truck horse. This is against a background of continuous theft of copper cables which are now even occurring in the central business District (CBD).”

The recovered items were positively identified by Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company officers as ZETDC underground electricity distribution cables and transformer windings. This discovery is significant as theft of copper cables has been on the rise, with incidents even occurring in the central business district.

In response to this incident, Inspector Ncube, commended the public for providing information that led to the arrest of the accused individuals. He emphasised the importance of community involvement in reporting suspicious activities related to power outages and the illegal trade of copper.

“We encourage the community to continue assisting by reporting all suspicious power outages to the nearest police station and knowing their load shedding schedules. It is important to report all suspicious persons who might be involved in the illegal trade of copper and anyone found tampering with electricity equipment,” Inspector Ncube stated.