Tough sentences for cable theft on the way

NATIONAL – Think again before stealing that steel manhole cover, those phone lines or electricity cables – tough new minimum sentences of three to 25 years in jail are on the way.

According to a report on IOL News, the changes are in the Criminal Matters Amendment Bill 2015 (which was released on Monday), which the justice and correctional services ministry intends tabling in parliament soon.

The bill creates a new offence.

“It criminalises the unlawful and intentional tampering with or damaging or destroying of essential infrastructure and provides for the possibility of the imposition of a severe penalty, namely imprisonment which may be up to 30 years,” a ministry memo explaining the bill said.

“The creation of this offence provides an opportunity for the legislature to emphasise the seriousness of this offence by allowing for the imposition by courts of a harsh sentence and to ensure that legislation is in place to regulate this aspect adequately, instead of having to rely on the common-law offence of malicious damage to property, which is often regarded as a minor offence.”

The bill says bail for such crimes may be granted only by courts.

When those in positions of trust – police, security guards, employees or contractors of the entity targeted – or gangs are involved, it is regarded as a more serious offence and thus more difficult to get bail.

Minimum sentences are harsh;

• First-time offenders face a minimum of three years in jail.

• A second offence brings five years, and

• Third time around it’s seven years in jail.

• Scrap-metal dealers and secondhand dealers caught with any metal bits of “essential infrastructure” that can’t be explained legally face minimum sentences of five to 10 years.

Those whose interference with essential infrastructure is regarded as organised crime should expect minimum sentences of 15, 20 or 25 years, depending on the convicted person’s previous convictions.

This part of the bill links the infrastructure crimes to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The essential infrastructure is “any installation, structure, facility or system, whether publicly or privately owned, the loss or damage of, or the tampering with, which may interfere with the provision of a basic service to the public”, the bill says.

Basic services include those for energy, transport, water, sanitation and communication.

The bill explains that “essential infrastructure-related offences are becoming increasingly more organised and are often committed by armed and dangerous criminal groups”, and while the actions may sometimes seem relatively minor, they cause considerable damage to essential infrastructure.

A copy of the bill will be put on the ministry’s website at www.justice.gov.za

IOLNews