Theft, vandalism of Eskom electricity infrastructure on the rise in Gauteng
Eskom revealed an increase in cable theft and vandalism of its infrastructure across the province and said it cannot win this fight alone.
Eskom is concerned with the increase in incidents of theft and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure across Gauteng.
According to Eskom’s senior maintenance and operations manager in Gauteng, Mashangu Xivambu, these criminal acts result in the loss of revenue and increased replacement costs for the power utility.
Theft and vandalism of electricity equipment also leave customers without electricity supply for prolonged periods, inconveniencing law-abiding, paying customers and community service points such as healthcare and education facilities, businesses and the economy at large.
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“We have put controls in place to enhance the existing measures to try and eliminate and guard against theft and vandalism of our infrastructure as it affects the livelihoods of our customers.”
Xivambu added that the power utility conducts risk assessments to classify and identify hot spot areas and place static guards strategically at these sites. Armed response patrols are also conducted at interval periods along the identified routes and critical infrastructure sites.
“Eskom cannot win this fight alone, we partner and collaborate with community members, community security companies, business forums, community policing forums (CPF) and SAPS among others to try and reduce theft and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure. We appeal to those communities who are not yet on board, to join forces with us in the battle against this scourge that is affecting all of us,” concluded Xivambu.
Members of the public are further encouraged to report suspicious activities anonymously to the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22 (toll-free) or to the nearest police station.
