A 38-year-old Lesotho national, Sello Mokose, has been sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment for damaging essential infrastructure after he was caught digging up and cutting railway cables along a rail line near Kimberley in the Northern Cape.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, the Kimberley Regional Court convicted and sentenced Mokose after he was apprehended along the N12 between Warrenton and Kimberley. Mokose was also sentenced to six months imprisonment for contravening the Immigration Act after authorities discovered that he was in the country illegally.
Incident and Investigation
The conviction stems from an incident on May 27, 2025, when the Railway Police Unit received information from Transnet security officers about suspects digging up cables along the railway line between Warrenton and Kimberley. Police, assisted by a drone pilot, rushed to the scene where they encountered a group of suspects who fled in different directions. Mokose was apprehended at the scene while the others managed to escape.
Further investigations by Transnet Freight Rail protection officials revealed that about 60 metres of railway cable had already been dug up and cut. Faced with the evidence against him, Mokose elected to plead guilty to both charges and was convicted as charged.
Impact of Infrastructure Tampering
During sentencing proceedings, the State called a leading protection official from Transnet Freight Rail Security to testify about the impact of infrastructure tampering. The official told the court about “the severe consequences of tampering with railway infrastructure”, highlighting “the devastating impact that cable theft and infrastructure tampering have on rail operations, economic activity, and the livelihoods of employees who depend on the rail network.”
As stated on the Transnet website, infrastructure such as railway networks plays a vital role in economic growth, job creation, and the movement of goods across the country. The NPA in the Northern Cape maintains that crimes targeting essential infrastructure continue to cripple key sectors of the South African economy.
Some of the key consequences of infrastructure tampering include:
- Disruption of rail operations
- Loss of economic activity
- Impact on the livelihoods of employees who depend on the rail network
- Undermining of service delivery
- Deprivation of communities of essential services
The court further declared Mokose unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that he be deported to Lesotho upon completion of his sentence.
