Ten years prison sentence for coal thieves from Bethal

Two truck drivers, Mungambe Malekera (42) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Thabani Celumusa Makhunga (26) were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each for theft of coal.

The Bethal Regional Court sentenced these two truck drivers on June 4, for stealing coal from a local mine, Overlooked Colliery, situated in the Govan Mbeki district.

The court further ruled both accused are unfit to possess a firearm under the terms of section 103 Act 60/2000 of the Firearms Control Act.

According to Sergeant Thomas Mogadime, spokesperson of the Bethal police, two trucks entered the coal mine on the night of September 17, 2022, pretending to load coal for a power station.

Based on the mine procedures, every truck loaded with coal had to pass through the weighbridge, but these two trucks never did.

ALSO CHECK: Officers from Evander are being accused of assault

“Both the drivers were instructed to stop before leaving the mine and could not give a satisfactory reason why they did not go through the weighing process.

“The security official that apprehended the accused, took the truck keys from both drivers and went to the weighbridge to verify why the trucks were not weighed.

“He then called the security supervisor for assistance in ensuring that the suspects were taken to the security room. The police were summoned to the mine for further assistance,” said Mogadime.

The docket was registered and allocated to Detective Sergeant December Jele for investigation.

ALSO CHECK: Bethal police need help in identifying 2018 case of human remains not yet claimed