MBABANE – As the investigation into the theft of copper deepens, a legislator has been reported to law enforcers for being among the ringleaders of this crime.
Independent investigations have uncovered that the legislator’s name came out when a number of suspects were either being apprehended for this crime, which is said to have caused adverse challenges to parastatals.
Among the parastatals, the Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) started internal investigations to establish how copper was stolen immediately after being replaced.
The State-owned enterprise (SOE) reports that it loses over E300 million due to copper theft and vandalism. This publication established that the genesis of the challenge was within the parastatal’s procurement system. The entity reportedly established that some senior managers, along with employees, were facilitating the theft of the copper. It is alleged that the politician collaborated with the employees and managers in the theft of the copper.
The Managing Director (MD) of EPTC, Themba Khumalo, confirmed the financial drain to the parastatal.
Khumalo said the parastatal has been incurring significant losses and is sinking into debt due to the architecture of such acts by the employees, some suppliers, the legislator and those apprehended for copper theft.
This publication had previously reported that sources had indicated that copper theft at the parastatal is linked to a network of individuals both within and outside the entity.
The ongoing investigations are said to have uncovered that officers within the EPTC facilitated the placing of orders for copper cables.
Meanwhile, this publication has established that the role of the legislator is not limited to advising the syndicate on where to steal the copper cables; at times, the politician is said to have assisted those apprehended by funding their bail. In the scheme of things, it is claimed that the politician also, along with some employees, facilitated the transportation of the copper cables to some scrapyards in Matsapha.
It has been established that at various times, the politician along with some employees coordinated the transportation of copper cables with EPTC vehicles. It is worth noting that daily, copper cables are reported by parastatals as stolen. This publication gathered that on Sunday, EPTC reported that just before midnight, copper valued at E91 300 was cut inside a manhole at Bethany.
The theft of the copper cable, according to the investigation, created a huge demand for the product which has resulted in the investigation zooming into the systems within the entity and its suppliers of all consumables.
Meanwhile, Khumalo said the losses include both copper theft and vandalism of optic fibre cables.
Full article available in our publication.
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