Fochville farmer arrested for R6 million electricity theft in major operation
The arrest was made by the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure team.
A well-known farmer from the Fochville area spent most of the week behind bars after he was arrested during a special operation for electricity theft worth millions.
According to the national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the farmer, Bertus Moolman (80), was arrested on December 3 after he was found to have been illegally connecting, distributing and selling electricity to residents who have settled on his farming property. Moolman is the owner of the land on which the informal settlement, known as Mphahla Village between Sibanye-Stillwater’s East Driefontein Mine and the N12, is situated.
The arrest was made by a Natjoints (National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure) team led by SAPS. Officials of Eskom and Johannesburg City Power were also involved. When the team arrived on Moolman’s farm, they confiscated three transformers, 119 electricity meter boxes and electrical cables used to connect each household.
Moolman appeared in the Fochville Magistrate’s Court on December 4 on a charge of tampering with essential infrastructure worth
R90 000, theft of electricity worth R6m, and theft of meter boxes worth R476 000. The case was postponed until December 11 for a formal bail application.
Moolman’s neighbours have been complaining of the growing squatter camp on his farm for decades. Mphahla Village is notorious for a large number of illegal immigrants, many of whom are zama-zamas, staying on the property.
According to Mathe, the Natjoints energy safety and security team was established in 2022. Since then they have ensured that sabotage and criminality affecting Eskom are reduced significantly.
“On a weekly basis, this structure strives to ensure that there are deployments in place to prevent, combat and investigate incidents that would hamper the delivery of electricity through generation, transmission and distribution. The structure sits on a daily basis and monitors all power stations and essential infrastructure throughout the country. It is inclusive of various other government departments including SANDF, State Security Agency, SARS, National Prosecuting Authority, Asset Forfeiture Unit and many others,” explains Mathe.
By printing time the outcome of Moolman’s bail application was still not known.
