571kg of transformer coils recovered…36-year-old suspect arrested:1,5 tonne Zesa copper cables stash in Kelvin North

Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter 

POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested a 36-year-old man from Emganwini suburb who was found in possession of 1,5 tonnes of copper cables valued at US$34 612 whose source he could not satisfactorily explain. 

The suspect, Themba Ndebele is employed as an agent of Reczone Private Limited of Harare and alleged that he held the cables on behalf of the company. 

In an interview yesterday, Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the arrest of Ndebele and the recovery of the copper cables.

He said on Wednesday police received information that Ndebele had copper cables suspected to be stolen from the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) distribution lines. 

“On March 13, 2024, detectives received information that the accused person had copper cables suspected to be stolen from ZETDC distribution lines. The recovered copper cables are owned by ZETDC. 

“Some are used in electricity distribution and some are transformer coils and overhead copper distribution cables. Police gathered that indeed Ndebele is an agent of Reczone Pvt Ltd and that he operates in Bulawayo’s Kelvin West Industrial area. 

“On a date unknown but in January 2024, Ndebele received assorted copper cables packed in 34 50kg pockets. The copper cables included transformer coils and overhead distribution cables. Ndebele stored the cables in one of the company offices at 1634 Market Road Kelvin North, Bulawayo.” 

He said police went to the premises where they introduced themselves and requested to search his premises where they recovered 1 380,5kg of copper cables of which 571kg were ZETDC transformer coils.

He added: “ZETDC engineer, TelOne Zimbabwe and National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) representatives were summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit (MFFU) Station to identify the recovered copper cables. The ZETDC engineer identified 571kg of transformer coils and overhead distribution cables.”

Insp Ncube said when probed further by the police, Ndebele indicated that he had bought the assorted copper cables from different people.

He is said to have produced a valid licence to deal in copper issued on 19 February this year and expiring on 18 February 2025 to Reczone, the company that he works for. 

Insp Ncube, however, said there was a contravention of Section 4(4) of the Copper Control Act Chapter 14:06 that states that “No person shall transfer a licence to any other person and no person, except the person to whom it is issued, shall make use of such licence.”

Insp Ncube said it was worrying that parastatals continue to lose a lot of property to vandalism and theft.

It is against that background that Zesa last month held an awareness campaign in the city where it spoke against theft of copper cables.

The campaign was a joint venture with Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), ZETDC Loss Control, the NRZ and TelOne.

The campaign sought to encourage members of the public to desist from vandalism of service infrastructure particularly the theft of copper cables whose impacts were felt by many.

The vandalism and theft of copper cables has led to the loss of lives in hospitals,                                                  water shortages due to failure to pump water from the city’s water supply sources and citizens going for prolonged hours without electricity.