Eskom in Gauteng said it was disappointed in an employee who was taken into custody for allegedly stealing pylon steel.

The said employee was arrested on March 10, for allegedly stealing structural cross members of a pylon at the Eskom Academy of Learning also known as ‘Eskom College’ in Midrand.

According to Eskom’s safety, health, environment, risk and quality manager in Gauteng, Kith Maitisa, the security team received a tip-off regarding the sale of the cross members (pylon steel) at a scrap metal dealer in Midrand.

“It is quite disappointing to have one of our own working against the entire collection and its mandate to provide quality electricity to customers. We condemn such acts of criminality in the strongest terms as they not only affect Eskom, but also impact our customers with unnecessary supply interruptions which can be avoided.”

The suspect was taken into custody at the Midrand Police Station where he will be facing theft charges.

Maitisi said the security team followed up on the information and visited the scrap dealer where approximately 40 pieces of cross members were discovered.

It is alleged that the manager of the scrap dealer confirmed that an Eskom employee had brought the cross members for sale and indicated that the employee will return to the scrap metal dealer to collect money in the afternoon.

Maitisa said the security team waited for the employee to return, and he was then arrested for the theft of Eskom property.

“We will continue to heighten efforts to curb theft, vandalism of our infrastructure and any criminal acts by anyone – especially our employees, who should be our guardians against such infrastructure destruction.”

Over the past few months, Eskom has reported several theft and vandalism incidents involving pylons and their subsequent collapse, which left residents without electricity for days.

Eskom has expressed concern over the involvement of its own employees in such criminal acts, especially as the utility recently reported arrests of other employees related to theft and other electricity crimes.