Mloha Usale pleaded guilty to stealing cellphone tower batteries, but offered to pay a fine of R200,000, which the state refused.
A Malawian pastor who was found guilty of tampering with essential infrastructure has been sentenced to an effective 10-year jail term by the Pretoria magistrate’s court.
The court also sentenced Mlotha Nelson Usale, 59, to eight years each for three convictions of fraud worth R150,000. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently with that of 10 years.
From 2021 to May 2022 Usale, a pastor, ran a syndicate where he would steal batteries from several Vodacom and MTN cellphone towers around the country.
He would then interchange the management system of batteries to different manufacturers, respray the casings of the battery in an attempt to disguise their true origins to make them look like they were commercial solar batteries.
“Thereafter, he would sell the batteries to unsuspecting consumers by placing adverts on social media platforms under a business called SOLAR MART and SUN SHOP. When an unsuspecting customer purchased a battery, the company would use the services of e-hailing to deliver the battery,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said.
She said the syndicate was discovered after a complainant bought a battery and it did not work. The complainant then showed the battery to his friend who told him it was a network battery.
Two other Malawians were arrested in May 2022 and were convicted and sentenced to eight years each in July last year. Usale had skipped the country and returned to Malawi. He was eventually arrested in January at the Beitbridge border attempting to skip the country again.
“In court, he pleaded guilty to the charges and offered to pay a fine of R200,000.”
However, prosecutor advocate Tholoana Sekhonyana refused the offer and argued the offences committed warranted a sentence of direct imprisonment.
Director of public prosecutions Sibongile Mzinyathi welcomed the sentence and applauded the work of investigating officers Sgt Thabo Lukhele and Sgt Mokibelo Supe of the Gauteng provincial organised crime which led to the conviction and sentencing.
TimesLIVE
