John Tazvivinga has been convicted of tampering with Eskom infrastructure
The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crime Court convicted Tazvivinga, a former consultant for Inkitha Royal Empire Construction, of contravening Section 3(1) of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act 18 of 2015.
Tazvivinga has been sentenced to five years in prison, with the sentence wholly suspended for five years, provided he does not commit a similar offence during this period. Also, the company has been ordered to pay a R10,000 fine.
The conviction is a result of Tazvivinga falsely representing himself as an Eskom contractor to the residents of Marhambeni in Mthatha.
He was hired by residents to connect electricity, for which he received R120,000. Tazvivinga unlawfully and intentionally tampered with essential infrastructure by illegally connecting electricity without authorisation from Eskom between 20 January 2016 and 15 April 2016. As a result, Eskom suffered financial prejudice amounting to R231,000.
Eskom said that it was grateful to its internal security investigations and the Specialised Commercial Crime Investigation teams for their collaborative efforts over the years. Although the sentence was not as severe as Eskom had hoped, it served as a warning to potential criminals contemplating tampering with critical infrastructure and stealing electricity, that under this Act they could receive a maximum prison term of 30 years.
Eskom encourages members of the public to report any unlawful activities related to its operations through the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 11 27 22 or via WhatsApp at 081 333 3323.
[Photo: City of Ekurhuleni]