On Saturday, the SANDF was deployed to several Eskom power stations. Photo: Gallo Images
Brigadier-General Andries Mokoena Mahapa, spokesman for the South African National Defence Force confirmed on Tuesday that more soldiers were being deployed to guard “far more” than the initial four Eskom power stations, in an attempt to stop a “great impending danger”.
Speaking to Netwerk24 on Tuesday he said soldiers are now ready at more than the initial four coal-fired power stations (Tutuka, Camden, Majuba and Grootvlei) where President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed them nine days ago.
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However, due to the advanced intelligence of the forces threatening the power stations, Mahapa did not want to say at which other power stations the soldiers were deployed to.
“Problems are expected,” Mahapa said.
According to reports, Ramaphosa’s decision to deploy the army was based on impeccable intelligence reports that indicated a major threat to Eskom’s infrastructure.
According to Mahapa, it is not only syndicates that threaten the power stations. He said intelligence reports also indicated other imminent dangers, which meant the military had to get involved urgently.
“However, we cannot say who or what kind of forces are behind the dangers, because it varies from power station to power station,” he told the Afrikaans online publication.
André de Ruyter, who is currently still the CEO of Eskom until March 2023, said last week that the recent record number of power stations that have failed could possibly be attributed to sabotage.
He also said that initial investigations could not yet irrefutably confirm sabotage, but at one power station in particular, several generating units failed at the same time, which may indicate possible irregularities.
On December 20, eight generating units failed overnight.
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De Ruyter said on Friday that Eskom is now “fully” in the grip of syndicates, and that the power supplier is effectively in a state of siege.
Mahapa pointed out that it is not only criminal elements that threaten Eskom, but due to the ongoing processes at the power stations, he cannot elaborate on the “dangers”.
The deployment of soldiers is part of the military’s Operation Prosper – the government’s response to the riots of July 2021 in which around 300 people died and billions of rands worth of damage was caused to infrastructure and businesses.
According to Mahapa, the current deployment is part of the continuation of that operation, which aims to stop public violence and damage to key infrastructure.
*Compiled by Xanet Scheepers