Suspended Eskom employee in court for 'theft of diesel worth R500k'

A 40-year-old suspended Eskom plant operator has appeared in court for allegedly stealing diesel worth R500,000 from a power station in the Western Cape.

After spending Christmas behind bars, Angelo Cysman appeared in the Atlantis magistrate's court on Wednesday. He was arrested on December 23.

Ankerlig power station in Atlantis generates electricity using nine open-cycle gas turbines (OCGT) which burn millions of litres of diesel.

Initially intended to generate additional  power during brief periods of peak demand, OCGT plants have subsequently been operated extensively by the embattled power utility at significant cost.

“Through internal investigations, it was established the plant operator permitted a vehicle to collect the stolen diesel from the site ... He declared the diesel tanker empty and said all of it was offloaded, which it was not,” said Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani.

“[An] internal investigation was conducted by Eskom and then referred to the Hawks’ crimes against the state team in Bellville. This led to the arrest of the plant operator a month after Eskom laid a complaint of theft of diesel.”

Cysman was released on R50,000 bail.

The hearing was postponed to February 23 for further investigation. 

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