A 50-year-old man‚ suspected to be a leader of a syndicate specialising in network infrastructure theft in the Balfour area of Mpumalanga‚ has been arrested after a probe by Eskom’s investigation team‚ the energy utility said on Monday.
Eskom said it opened an investigation after at least seven transformers were stolen in the Balfour region.
"The team was also alerted to the planned stealing of another transformer in the Greylingstad area‚ and members were dispatched to the would-be crime scene.
"The following day the vehicle driven by the syndicate leader arrived at the scene and the suspects climbed out approximately 300m from where the transformer was lying on the ground‚" Eskom said.
The transformer had already been dismantled. The suspects were caught red-handed after they loaded it into their vehicle.
A case of theft was opened with the Balfour SAPS after the Eskom team recovered the 25Kva transformer.
The suspects' vehicle‚ a white Toyota bakkie‚ was handed over to the police.
Eskom said copper theft costs the economy between R5 billion and R7 billion a year‚ and it spends "in the region of R2 billion a year replacing stolen copper cables".
"There is hope‚ however‚ that this crime will ultimately cease to exist‚" said Tebogo Rakau‚ Divisional Executive for Security at Eskom.
"The courts have started to take infrastructure theft seriously‚" he said‚ referring to a recent case involving Andries Koos Mahlangu‚ who was sentenced to three years in prison for cable theft by the Kriel Magistrate's Court‚ in Mpumalanga.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
