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CENTLEC has been facing a scourge of cable theft and infrastructure vandalism over the years impacting on its ability to supply regular and reliable power to its customers, the latest conviction is a positive for the utility in fighting crime and protecting its infrastructure.
The Acting Spokesperson for the power utility Mr Tseliso Leba said CENTLEC welcomes the sentencing and the conviction of a 21-year-old Braam Bothma to 20 years’ direct imprisonment on charges relating to theft, damage and vandalism of infrastructure.
On Monday, 13 April 2026, the Bloemfontein Regional Court handed down a firm judgment in favour of CENTLEC. Bothma was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, on all counts and was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The charges stem from multiple incidents between 2022 and 2025 in the Noordhoek area, Bloemfontein, where the accused was apprehended while cutting and stealing electrical and telecommunications cables belonging to CENTLEC and Telkom.
“These criminal acts disrupted critical services, including electricity supply and communication networks, directly impacting communities and businesses. The court emphasized the impact of infrastructure vandalism and theft which remain a serious and a growing concern in South Africa.
Cable theft and vandalism of essential infrastructure place an immense strain on service delivery and contribute towards the increased operational costs for CENTLEC, which severely undermines our mandate to provide sustainable and reliable electricity supply,” said Leba.
“As CENTLEC, we strongly condemn all acts of economic sabotage and the destruction of essential infrastructure. The company remains committed to working closely with law enforcement agencies and communities to safeguard critical infrastructure and ensure uninterrupted delivery of the services,” he continued.
