Eskom has issued a warning about 'disaster level' theft

According to Eskom, theft and damage of energy infrastructure have reached terrible proportions in Gauteng, jeopardising crucial services and lives in the region.

“Eskom has reported concerning levels of damage to its network, such as transformers and substations, leading to prolonged outages to customers, including essential services,” it said.

The electrical supply to Rand Water in the City of Ekurhuleni was disrupted on Wednesday (15 February) owing to vandalism of insulators at the Mapleton line, threatening crucial water supply for inhabitants of Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Lesedi, Govan Mbeki, and Thembisile Hani Local Municipality.

“The vandalism and theft have extended to include pylons whose tower members are often stolen by unscrupulous criminal elements, resulting in the steel structures collapsing and posing extreme danger to members of the public,” it said.

In addition to interrupting vital operations, Eskom stated that vandalism and theft of infrastructure cause huge financial losses to the firm, forcing it to rebuild it at considerable and unsustainable prices, jeopardising its liquidity and mandate to deliver energy.

The organisation urged the general people to help in the battle against criminal elements and to serve as “the eyes and ears” of the electrical supplier.

Eskom stated that three persons appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate Court in January 2023 after being arrested on a tip-off by community members for being in possession of R25,000 worth of pylon tower members.

“This was a result of working together with the community members and other stakeholders,” it said.

The electricity utility is under attack from both within and beyond its operations. While power plant operations have been harmed by high-level fraud and theft by criminal syndicates, who steal fuel and swap good coal with rejected coal, regular criminals are also robbing public infrastructure during outages.

In January, the City of Johannesburg stated that crime levels had risen to the point where it was unable to procure enough replacement parts and components to match the rate at which they were taken.

Load shedding has left many homes and businesses vulnerable to theft by criminals who take advantage of power shortages.

Eskom has implemented many new anti-crime initiatives, including a comprehensive screening and security sweep of all active contracts and enlisting the assistance of the South African National Defence Force, which is stationed at its power installations.

But, in order to combat greater infrastructure crime, it is seeking assistance from the general public.

The power provider urged the public to assist them in lowering electricity-related criminal activity by reporting unauthorised connections, theft, and damage to the Eskom crime line number: 0800 112 722.