State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has welcomed the recent arrest and conviction of four men for theft of essential infrastructure on its rail network.

The Thabazimbi Regional Court on May 31 sentenced the four men to 49 years each for various charges related to the theft of essential infrastructure from the railway line between Northam and Dwaalboom, in Limpopo.

The charges against the men included tampering, damaging or destroying essential infrastructure; theft of ferrous or nonferrous metals; failure to use a port of entry; and entering South Africa without a valid passport.

TFR further reports that, in a separate incident on May 29, its private security, along with TFR officials and representatives of the South African Police Service, were able to recover contact wire stolen from Perdekop, Mpumalanga.

TFR says the crime is still under investigation.

“As TFR, we are glad that collaborative efforts between us and other strategic and operational stakeholders are bearing fruit and that the joint efforts are a testimony that outcomes-based security is working,” says TFR forensics and security GM Shawn Johnson.