SANDF to guard four Eskom power plants under threat of sabotage and vandalism

Following requests by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Defence Thandi Modise has deployed the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to four Eskom power stations.

The year 2022 has been the worst on record for rolling blackouts, with outgoing CEO André de Ruyter stating previously that Eskom and the country could attribute one or two stages of load shedding to sabotage.

In an interview with SAfm, he said: “This is a pattern. We found it at other power stations as well. At Tutuka, for example, people deliberately break equipment because that results in a maintenance callout, which puts money into the pockets of the maintenance contractors.”

“Of course, there are other factors in place where no doubt [these criminals] want to exacerbate load shedding, and we suspect to put more pressure on players including myself and the management teams.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: “André de Ruyter had a year from hell – and then he lost his political cover”

Now, as the CEO serves the remainder of his time at the utility, the government has brought in the big guns — literally.

Asked about the purpose, scope and duration of the deployment, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Daily Maverick: “In response to the growing threat of sabotage, theft, vandalism and corruption at Eskom power stations, the minister of defence has responded to the request made by the Presidency and the minister of public enterprises to support the ongoing activities of the security cluster.

“This is expected to ensure that we continue to respond to security-related threats and risks to South Africa’s essential energy infrastructure; coordinate all security-related operations to protect South Africa’s essential energy infrastructure through proactive crime detection, prevention, investigation, prosecution and administration of justice involving such infrastructure, and conduct integrated joint planning sessions with relevant role players to address identified challenges affecting energy security/security of supply.” 

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Asked about the scale of the deployment, Magwenya said: “A minimum of 10 soldiers of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed at power generation stations, with the initial deployment to Tutuka, Camden, Majuba and Grootvlei. Further deployments will be announced in due course.”

Eskom had previously announced that in November, a contractor working at the Camden Power Station was arrested after he was “positively linked” to an incident of sabotage at the station. A few weeks earlier, a coal delivery truck driver was arrested at the same power station after he was found in possession of substandard coal destined for Eskom.

Asked about Eskom’s role and reaction to the news, the beleaguered utility referred all questions to the Office of the Presidency for further information.

“Eskom welcomes this intervention as it clearly demonstrates that days of malfeasance and nefarious activities will be dealt with by the government,” said Magwenya DM