Almost six months after a bomb threat was directed at Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer, police have made a breakthrough in the case by arresting a 27-year-old man.

According to a statement by the power utility, the arrest was made in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, on Friday.

“In May, Jan Oberholzer received a bomb threat from an unknown cellphone number. The internal security investigations team referred criminal charges to SAPS on his behalf,” the statement reads. It adds that an unregistered sim card was used to send the message.

Eskom says that there is an ‘overwhelming [amount] of evidence’ that links the man to the incident.

“Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation members on Friday morning contacted investigators from Bidvest Pretoria Coin, who traced and arrested the man. He remains in custody ahead of his court appearance next week.”

The general manager of security at Eskom, Advocate Karen Pillay, labelled this and other incidents against their employees as ‘very disturbing’.

“Such acts of criminality are malicious and Eskom takes them seriously. The nature and level of threats demands that they focus on their personal safety, and that of their families, [thus] distracting them from the critical task their jobs demand of them,” she explains.

Not an isolated incident

Pillay adds that a number of their employees have been targeted in recent months. “Safety and security risks inadvertently impose increased demands on the organisation to secure its resources.”

Provincial police are yet to release a statement on the bomb threat.