- Two separate hauls by the police have accounted for lithium batteries worth more than R1.5 million.
- Copper cable theft in Zimbabwe is on the rise.
- The Pretoria Magistrate‘s Court handed down 10-year sentences to copper cable thieves.
There has been a surge in the theft of lithium batteries in Botswana as demand for alternative power sources for home and industrial use increases across southern Africa.
Botswana police in Tlokweng, near the country’s border with South Africa, arrested four Zimbabwean men who were in possession of stolen batteries worth about R1.25 million on Tuesday.
The police said the 40 batteries could have been stolen from cellphone towers.
“The items are suspected to have been stolen from different telecommunications towers belonging to Mascom cellular network service provider,” said assistant commissioner Dipheko Motube from the Botswana Police Service’s public relations office.
On Monday, in Francistown, police arrested two suspects, a Motswana man and a Zimbabwean.
They were found in possession of 12 lithium-ion batteries they could not account for.
“The batteries, which are worth P300 000 [about R375 000], are suspected to have been stolen in and around Gaborone,” said Motube.
In both cases, all the suspects are in custody and will appear in court soon.
Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, copper cable theft is also on the increase amid a global appetite for copper.
Last year, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority said it lost cables worth an estimated R72 million.
This year alone, 500 cases of theft and vandalism have been reported to the police.
The biggest police find yet was when a South African national and five Zimbabwean colleagues were arrested. They were found in possession of 1 700kg of copper cables while trying to smuggle the contraband into South Africa.
The theft of copper cables is widespread in South Africa, with authorities hard-pressed to break the syndicates behind the theft.Three Zimbabweans were sentenced to 10 years by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for cable theft in October.
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Source : News24 11/17/2022