Skip to main content

Beware new infrastructure law

| Crime and security

If you’re caught damaging water pipes, power cables or state infrastructure from 1st June 2016, expect to spend years in jail.

Tough new laws on infrastructure damage are about to take effect.

This week, President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Michael Masutha proclaimed the date for the commencement of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act.

This is the update to the Criminal Procedure Act that makes it harder to get bail for offences arising from damage and theft of essential infrastructure, such as cable theft, as it requires a court to decide on bail and not the police.

It creates a new offence relating to essential infrastructure and sets discretionary minimum sentences for this.

Essential infrastructure now means “any installation, structure, facility or system, whether publicly or privately owned, the loss or damage of, or the tampering with, which may interfere with the provision or distribution of a basic service to the public”.

The new offence means that anyone who unlawfully and intentionally “tampers with, damages or destroys essential infrastructure”, or “colludes with or assists another person” to do that and “who knows or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that it is essential infrastructure” can be jailed for up to 30 years.

In the case of a corporate body, it can be fined up to R100 million.

Minimum sentences are three years for first offenders, five years for second offenders and seven years for third-time offenders.

Cases involving organised crime get heavier minimum sentences, ranging from 15 years for first offenders to 25 years for repeaters.

The new law is aimed at dealing with the problem of offences which may in themselves seem relatively minor - such as stealing a few hundred metres of cable - and thus resulted in minor sentences after convictions for malicious damage to property. However, those incidents often cause much greater economic or other damage due to the loss of essential services.

“Essential infrastructure-related offences are becoming increasingly more organised and are often committed by armed and dangerous criminal groups,” said the Department of Justice when the law was first proposed.

Pin It

Related Articles

By: News24 The police have noted with concern a recent spate of shoplifting incidents. Shop owners and assistants are urged to adhere to the following safety hints.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) says it has noticed a spike in schemes and scams that leave South Africans out of pocket, including con artists impersonating companies, investment and financial scams and pyramid schemes.
By:  Nick Wilson – News24 Shoprite, SA’s largest retailer, says it has dealt a major blow against crime over the past three years, securing over 1 700 years of prison time – including 24 life sentences – for criminals.
Despite the continued reports about the tough economic environment facing South African consumers and the fact that disposable income is steadily decreasing, South Africans are still enjoying Black Friday sales.
The South African fraud landscape is becoming increasingly risky as fraudsters and scammers look to target individuals with highly sophisticated scams in an environment where it is becoming increasingly difficult for lawmakers and authorities to b...