The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), in collaboration with the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Executive Detective Service, has secured a 15-year direct imprisonment sentence for a man convicted of damaging essential infrastructure.
Christmas Nyamukanza, a 39-year-old Zimbabwean national, was sentenced on 9 December 2025 for a crime committed in September. His co-accused, also a Zimbabwean national who is legally in the country, was acquitted.
The conviction stems from an incident on Wednesday, 3 September 2025. Members conducting crime-prevention duties near the Petrus Steyn silos railway station observed suspicious activity and, with the support of local farmers, intervened. They arrested two individuals and found 28 stolen wooden railway sleepers and two rebar steel tools, allegedly used to remove the sleepers, already loaded into a truck. Five other suspects fled the scene and remain at large.
Police seized the truck, an SUV, and the rebar steel believed to have been used in the crime.
Further investigation revealed that Nyamukanza was undocumented in South Africa, leading to an additional charge for illegal immigration. His acquitted co-accused was found to be legally in the country.
