Rail infrastructure thieves receive lengthy prison sentences
State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has welcomed the conviction and sentencing of four people arrested in connection with the theft and damage of essential Transnet infrastructure that seriously impacted on its rail operations.
On August 19, the Nxuba Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape sentenced the perpetrators to a collective 50 years in prison.
Charlie van Dyk, 43, Elandre Senekal, 29, Michelle van Straaten, 23, and Kwakhanya Bolowana, 28, were convicted on charges of housebreaking, damaging essential infrastructure and theft.
This relates to an incident which took place at the Scalen Rail Station on Mortimer road in Nxuba in March last year, in which four batteries, transformers and cables, valued at R57 000, were stolen.
“Security-related incidents on our rail network continue to have a crippling impact on our operations, leading to train delays, cancellations and tonnage losses. Criminal syndicates attack the rail network, targeting essential rail infrastructure by damaging, tempering, vandalising and disrupting rail operations,” TFR security and forensic acting GM Shawn Johnson said.
The four criminals received five years for housebreaking, 15 years for damage to essential infrastructure and 15 years for theft. Senekal and Van Straaten were jailed for an effective 20 years, while Van Dyk and Bolowana will serve 30 years.
“In July this year, we had 481 criminal-related incidents on our rail network, including cable theft and vandalism. The TFR security department continues to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, customers and other State-owned companies to address the ongoing criminal attacks on the rail networks,” Johnson said.
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