A 38-year-old man from Dzamba village appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, 21 February, on charges of possession of suspected stolen property, resisting arrest, possession of a dangerous weapon and possession of housebreaking implements.
According to Mr Richard Musikitedzi Ramabulana from the Vhembe Concerned Group, he received a tip-off about a man carrying suspicious bags from a community member. He immediately engaged with the police and local taxi drivers and they followed the taxi the suspect was in.
Azwitakadzi Mavhungu was arrested when the taxi he boarded stopped at Mount Fuji Motors in Louis Trichardt on Sunday, 19 February.
Ramabulana said the suspect was carrying a lot of copper that could possibly weigh more than 10kg.
The police in Makhado confirmed the arrest.
A community leader from the Dzamba area, Mr Eric Malakano, said the area had been facing serious cable theft challenges for the past eight years now. "The issue of cable theft started in 2015, and these culprits have left our residents in dark for a long time. About 10 of the houses' cables got stolen a year ago and Eskom still hasn't replaced these cables. This is a problem for us," he said.
Mr Ntshavheni Nenguda, customer relations manager at Eskom in Thohoyandou, said he wished to see that cable thieves receive hefty fines or serious jail time. "Eskom in Vhembe is experiencing more than 100 cables that get stolen daily. We have got backlogs of no less than 1 000 customers around Vhembe whose cables were stolen," he said.
Mavhungu remains in custody until 13 March.