Eskom contract worker nabbed for copper cable theft at Mpumalanga power plant

26 Jun 2024

Eskom hails its security teams’ vigilance after an employee of a contractor at the Matla Power Station was arrested for suspected theft of copper cables.

Eskom said security officers at the coal-fired power plant discovered a man suspected to have stolen copper cables worth R4,000 during routine search duties. He faces charges of theft and unlawful possession of copper cable after being arrested on Sunday.

“We commend the security teams from Matla Power Station for their vigilance. The arrest of the suspect aligns with Eskom’s zero-tolerance approach towards illegal activities,” the utility said on Tuesday, 25 June 2024.

The incident had been reported to the Kriel Police Station. Asked at about noon on Tuesday for an update on the theft, Eskom spokesperson Dapheney Mokwena said: “Not yet, but we have asked our security division to follow up.”

Amid an increase in Eskom-contracted employees engaging in wrongdoing, a few weeks ago a suspected coal thief was arrested at the Arnot Power Station in Mpumalanga. The utility said its security team spotted the suspect entering a coal yard in Middelburg, in a truck loaded with coal to be delivered to an Eskom power station.

The truck had left the coal yard after about an hour when officials followed it en route to the Arnot plant.

The parastatal said there was sufficient evidence for a successful prosecution.

Joint raids

The power utility said that as part of its interventions it had joined forces with the police to conduct continuous unannounced raids on scrapyards, where most stolen cables and metal are believed to end up.

“The collaboration with law enforcement is also bearing fruit,” it said on Tuesday.

Eskom would continue to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure illegal coal yards were shut down.

In Gauteng only, cable theft has cost Eskom about R8.3-million since the beginning of 2023. The figure continues to rise.

Last month (May), Eskom told Daily Maverick there were on average 40 theft and vandalism incidents a month in Gauteng alone, although this represented a 5% decrease in crime across the company in the 2023/24 financial year compared with 2022/23.

Two successful convictions had been secured in the province over the past seven months.

Read in Daily Maverick: Probe into Zola, Soweto, substation fire points to vandalism

“Eskom encourages members of the public to report any information related to unlawful activities, including illegal electricity sales, fraud, theft of coal, fuel oil, diesel and copper cables,” Eskom said.

The utility told Daily Maverick that responding to incidents such as cable theft and vandalism diverted resources from attending to normal faults, which negatively affected service levels to customers. DM

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Joint raids