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A 41-year-old electrician has been sentenced to an effective 16 years imprisonment for electricity theft and illegally connecting households to the grid, costing Eskom a whopping R178 000.
Sandile Ntomela, who owns an electrical company, Zimdela (PTY), was sentenced at the Mount Frere Regional Court in KwaBhaca in the Eastern Cape, on Tuesday.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Eskom reported the illegal connections to SAPS in November 2018, after discovering that there were some houses connected to its infrastructure without the necessary authority.
NPA Regional spokesperson, Luxulo Tjali, said investigations led to the arrest of Ntomela who conducted the illegal connections using his company.
He said Ntomela faced two charges and plead guilty to both.
He was sentenced to 12-years imprisonment for unlawfully and intentionally tampering with, damaging, and destroying essential infrastructure.
Tjali said he received an additional 8 years imprisonment relating to the theft of the electricity charge.
The court however ordered that 4 of those years run concurrently with the 12-year sentence.
A fine of R20 000 was also imposed on his company.
