Man sentenced for Transnet oil theft in Free State
Vareni's co-accused Felix Magatu, will stand trial in January.
The Vrede Regional Court has sentenced Zimbabwean national Shepard Vareni to two concurrent seven-year terms for damaging essential infrastructure and stealing crude oil.
Free State Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Zweli Mohobeleli said the court also imposed a R5 5 000 fine or three months’ imprisonment for violating the Immigration Act and declared Vareni unfit to possess a firearm.
“The sentencing emanates from an incident on 25 September 2023 when security personnel received an alert about theft of crude oil in progress at a farm near Memel. Assisted by the local police, the security officers chased and arrested two suspects and recovered two vehicles,” Mohobeleli said on Wednesday.
PENDING TRIAL FOR CO-ACCUSED
Investigators later found that the suspects had tampered with a Transnet pipeline and stolen crude oil.
Authorities remanded Vareni, 38, in custody until his sentencing on Monday.
His co-accused, 43-year-old Zimbabwean national Felix Magatu, is expected to stand trial in the same court on 19 and 20 January 2026.
Free State Hawks head Major General Mokgadi Bokaba welcomed the sentence and commended the investigators.
This article has been sourced from various publicly available news platforms around the world. All intellectual property rights remain with the original publishers and authors. Unshared News does not claim ownership of the content and provides it solely for informational and educational purposes voluntarily. If you are the rightful owner and believe this content has been used improperly, please contact us for prompt removal or correction.
