Eskom scores with its ghost buster project

A new programme launched by Eskom last year to catch ghost vendors who sell electricity illegally has recovered R1.8 million in lost revenue during a pilot programme in Limpopo and will now be spread throughout the country.

Senior Manager of Energy Trading and Sales Forecasting at Eskom, Maboe Maphaka said the new programme apprehended criminals by incorporating technical meter auditing, supported by an on-site investigations team, a criminal investigation and was followed by prosecution.

Maphaka said a large number of ghost vending incidents, as well as other forms of electricity theft, were uncovered in many towns in the province. This led to the issuing of numerous fines amounting to almost R3,7 million.

The investigating teams also removed close to a million ghost units from prepaid meters in the province, preventing a potential losss of R1 338 722.83 in revenue.

815 households and 200 businesses were disconnected in the same period. The teams have made  21 arrests relating to ghost vending and opened 12 cases. 15 people were also arrested for illegal connections and meter tampering.

Maphaka said as much as R4.1 billion in revenue was lost each year by Eskom as a result of electricity theft.

 “Ghost vending is a contributor to these losses. Illegal connections and meter tampering are still the leading forms of electricity theft, but the buying and selling of illegal prepaid electricity vouchers has sharply increased and is taking root in many parts of the country.” he said.

 “The new approach has been highly successful and will now be implemented nationwide by Eskom’s various Operating Units across all nine provinces.” he added.