Police arrested a 20-year-old man last week in connection with the theft of armoured copper cables from Zimplats Smelting Company in Selous.
Jairosi James Moyo, together with three accomplices who remain at large, allegedly stole armoured copper cables valued at US$12,000 on 7 September 2026.
Police said that following investigations, the suspect was tracked down and apprehended while removing cable casings along Makwiro Road, Selous.
The other three suspects fled the scene. Police recovered a 150mm x 91m three-core armoured cable, a machete and a knife from Moyo.
In a separate development, the Bindura Magistrates’ Court last week convicted and sentenced two men to 10 years’ imprisonment each for unlawfully damaging and interfering with electricity infrastructure.
Claudius Sikelo (27), of Section 7, Trojan Mine in Bindura, and Foster Tsvekese Kamhaka (27), of Chiwaridzo 2 in Bindura, were found guilty over an incident on 25 June 2026.
Around 12.30 am that day, the pair went to 2787 Aerodrome, behind Chipindura Primary School in Bindura, where they dug up a buried four-core armoured electricity cable measuring approximately six metres in length, belonging to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
Their crime was detected after a resident heard suspicious digging noises behind his house. On investigating, he found the two men digging near an electricity transformer and mobilised his neighbours, who pursued the offenders as they attempted to flee.
Sikelo and Kamhaka were apprehended, and a hacksaw blade and a hoe were recovered at the scene and produced as exhibits. The total value of the damage caused was assessed at US$420. – (Pindula)
