Emmanuel Sibanda (41) of Village Songani in Chief Mupati was convicted on his own plea of guilt to two counts of theft and was not represented.
Six months of the sentence was suspended on condition that he was not going to commit a similar offence in the next five years.
Earlier this year, Sibanda, in the company of Paradzayi Mhike (33) and Langton Moyo (38) of Timire in Mwenezi, stole copper cables. However, Timire and Moyo are denying the charges and were remanded in custody for trial at a later date.
The copper was stolen at Tel-One in Mwenezi and weighed 40 kg with a value of US$284. The trio are reported to have burnt the loot near Manyuchi dam before cutting it into bundles.
On August 9, 2011, law enforcement agents from Mwenezi got wind that the three were trying to smuggle the copper wire to South Africa using a haulage truck and a road block was mounted on the Beitbridge road. The truck was stopped and two bags containing 40kg of copper and wire cutters were found.
After a thorough investigation by police, it came out that the three had also stolen copper wire at Saruru, 32 km along the Rutenga-Saraura Road in Mwenezi. They are also alleged to have stolen 150 kg of copper which belonged to the National Railway of Zimbabwe.
Post published in: News