KZN truck driver gets 10 years behind bars for stealing zircon
A truck driver has been sentenced to an effective 10 years in prison after being found guilty by the Richards Bay Regional Court for the theft of 60 tons of zircon worth R1.6 million.
Siphamandla Mdletshe worked for a contractor for Richards Bay Minerals in 2024, when a fellow employee approached him in 2024 to dump loads of zircon at a specified place in a forest near KwaMbonambi.
Mdletshe pleaded guilty, saying he dumped five loads.
The stolen mineral was traced to a warehouse in Isipingo in the south of Durban, where altogether 500 tons of zircon, worth R26.5 million was recovered.
KwaZulu-Natal NPA spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara says, “The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has secured an effective 10-year term of imprisonment against Siphamandla Mdletshe in the Richards Bay Regional Court after he pleaded guilty to the theft of a mineral product.
The offence was committed in March 2024 in the KwaMbonambi area of KZN.
In addition to the sentence, Mdletshe was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The NPA welcomes the successful finalisation of this matter.
The theft of mineral resources has a significant impact on South Africa’s economy and undermines the country’s mining sector.” The case against Mdletshe’s 10 co-accused has been postponed to the 27th of October.
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