Two Zimbabweans Jailed 12 Years Each for Cutting R2 Million in Railway Copper Cable in Limpopo
The Thabazimbi Regional Court convicted Mike Moyo (22) and Tinetenda Sthole (21) of tampering with essential infrastructure, metal theft and immigration offences.
Two Zimbabwean nationals have been sentenced to an effective 12 years’ direct imprisonment each for cutting copper cables that powered railway operations in Limpopo, according to the court record as reported on 29 October 2026.
The Thabazimbi Regional Court sentenced Mike Moyo (22) and Tinetenda Sthole (21) on 27 October 2026. They were convicted of tampering with essential infrastructure, theft of non-ferrous metal and contravening South Africa’s immigration laws.
The crime
The court found that on 11 October 2023 the two men cut overhead copper cables used to supply electricity to railway operations. The damaged infrastructure was valued at approximately R2 million.
The case took three years from the date of the offence to reach sentence.
Why the sentences are heavy
Tampering with essential infrastructure became a specific crime under the Criminal Matters Amendment Act of 2015, which Parliament passed because cable theft was crippling rail, power and telecommunications networks. A first offender convicted under the Act faces a sentence of up to 30 years. The law was written to treat attacks on the rail and electricity network as an attack on the public, not as ordinary theft.
Not the first case in this court
The Thabazimbi Regional Court has dealt with a string of cases like this one.
In November 2023 the same court sentenced four men to 12 years each for tampering with essential infrastructure after they cut copper cables at the Siyanda Bakgatla platinum mine in Northam. The Limpopo SAPS said at the time that the accused also faced charges for failing to use a port of entry.
In May 2024 the court sentenced four Zimbabwean nationals to 30 years for tampering with essential infrastructure and a further 15 years for theft of non-ferrous metal, after about 500 metres of overhead contact line was cut from a Transnet railway line near Dwaalboom. That damage was put at R200 000. Each was also sentenced to two years for failing to use a port of entry and two years for entering South Africa without a passport, SAnews reported. The Limpopo Provincial Commissioner welcomed those sentences.
The cost to the country
Every metre of cable cut from a rail line stops trains, strands commuters and freight, and costs the taxpayer to replace. Limpopo’s mining and freight corridor around Thabazimbi and Northam depends on that line.
The details of this week’s sentencing in this report are those published in the court summary circulated on 29 October 2026. No official SAPS or NPA statement on the case had been located at the time of publication.
Sources: court summary as posted on X by @Patriot_S_A, 29 October 2026. Earlier cases: SAnews, Four sentenced for destroying essential infrastructure in Limpopo. Limpopo News Update, Four accused sentenced 12 years.
