TWO Harare men, who are part of a four member gang which stole 168kgs of copper cables belonging to Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) were Wednesday sentenced to 10years imprisonment following conviction.

The four man Richard Dzinzi (35), Reward Sibanda (53), a juvenile and Tafadzwa Renias Phiri (27).

Dzinzi and Sibanda were slapped with a 10 years mandatory sentence after appearing before Harare magistrate Clever Tsikwa.

Their accomplices will be returning to court Thursday for sentencing.

The four pleaded guilty to the offence.

According to court papers, on 6 January 2023 Dzinzi saw copper cables near a ZESA power line close to a field at Wagon wheels farm in Westgate.

He then teamed up with his accomplices to dig up and cut the cables.

They then hired a truck to carry their loot from the farm to Highfields.

The hired driver then alerted the police leading to the arrest of the four.

At least 25 pieces of copper cables were seized and taken to CID Flora and Fauna Unit where a representative from ZETDC identified the cables.

The cables were taken to National Railways where they were weighed.

Court herd the value of the stolen cables is ZW$292,500.