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Eskom was today able to meet the country’s electricity demands while performing the requisite maintenance on its power generating plants.

Eskom is steadfast in its resolve to safeguard its assets against falling into criminal hands. To this end, five (5) suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Cosmo City, north of Johannesburg for the theft of underground cables worth approximately R10 000.

The five were arrested after Eskom and its crime-fighting partners received a tipoff regarding plans to steal electricity cables along the Malibongwe Drive near Zantspruit and Cosmo City in the Randburg area. This group of cable thieves is reported to have been highly active in the Randburg, Devland and Soweto areas and was selling the stolen cables to a scrap dealer in Kliptown, Soweto.

The group was arrested on Tuesday, 24 May, having fled the scene of the crime the night before. They were found in possession of 5 metres of underground copper cable and other electrical equipment.  The investigation is continuing.

Eskom is plagued by network equipment theft, generally referred to as conductor, cable or copper theft. This includes the theft of overhead lines, underground cables, airdac and bundle conductors, earthing equipment, transformers, pylon support lattices and so forth. The value of material stolen remains a serious concern, as it is indicative of organised, syndicate-driven criminal activity in the conductor theft environment, which is also experienced by other state-owned enterprises.

The fight against network equipment theft is being addressed by means of intelligence driven investigations by the Hawks, a division of the South African Police Service (SAPS), which encompasses aggressive policing of the scrap metal market for stolen goods. The courts are also taking this crime seriously and significant sentences are being handed out to perpetrators. A joint industry working group, formed by Eskom, Transnet, Telkom, SAPS, the National Prosecuting Authority, Business Against Crime and the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), continues to contribute positively in the fight against this crime.

We will continue to provide regular updates on the state of the power system through various media platforms.

Issued by Eskom