Breakthrough in cellphone tower battery thefts

The Makhado police made a breakthrough the past weekend with the arrest of a 33-year-old man in Eltivillas, Louis Trichardt, in connection with a spate of battery thefts at local cellphone towers in the area.

The theft of cellphone tower batteries has become a huge problem in South Africa the past few months and the Soutpansberg has not been spared. The thieves are obviously very arrogant, even daring to steal batteries on church property in full sight of the public.

This is exactly what happened at the Dutch Reformed Church Soutpansberg on 27 September. A group of men entered the church’s premises during the morning and said they needed to work on the tower situated on the church’s property. Nobody suspected anything, as the men were dressed exactly like the specific cellphone company’s workers.

Using a grinder, they cut the lock of the fence that surrounds the tower and proceeded to cut open the box in which the tower’s batteries are housed, stealing five batteries.

As for the past weekend’s arrest, provincial police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe said that on Saturday, 5 October, the police had received a tip-off from the public about a man in possession of stolen cellphone tower batteries.

“The suspect was immediately followed by a team comprised of Makhado SAPS Crime Prevention members, detectives and Crime Intelligence, with the support from the local security companies until he was cornered and arrested at one of the buildings in the area,” said Ngoepe. He was referring to the house in Eltivillas where the man apparently tried to evade arrest by hiding in the house’s ceiling.

Following the suspect’s arrest, the police recovered 20 cellphone tower batteries, a bolt cutter, grinders, a gas cutting torch, screwdrivers and a white GWM bakkie.

The suspect, Francis Muzenda, appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of, among others, the possession of suspected stolen goods and being in possession of housebreaking equipment. Bad news for him is that he was also charged in accordance with the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, Act 18 of 2015, which came into operation on 1 June 2016. What this act means is that, should Muzenda be found guilty, the law requires mandatory imprisonment without the option of a fine. The Act was specifically introduced the curb the high frequency of theft of the country’s essential infrastructure. Persons found guilty of such offences expose themselves to much harsher sentences.

Asked whether Muzenda could be linked to the theft of batteries at the Dutch Reformed Church, Ngoepe said they were still profiling him and would only know at a later stage if he could be linked to more, similar cases.

Muzenda's case was postponed until 15 October for a formal bail application. He will remain in custody until then.

News - Date: 11 October 2019

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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