Theft and vandalism of infrastructure at disastrous levels, says Eskom

Concerning damage to its network is leading to prolonged outages and putting lives at risk, Eskom said on Thursday.

The power utility said theft and vandalism of infrastructure has risen to disastrous levels, threatening essential services and lives in Gauteng. 

Eskom spokesperson in the province Amanda Qithi said electricity supply to Rand Water in Ekurhuleni was affected on Wednesday due to vandalism of insulators on the Mapleton line, putting water supply at risk in that city, Tshwane and Lesedi, and the Govan Mbeki and Thembisile Hani local municipalities.

“The vandalism and theft have extended to include pylons whose tower members are often stolen by unscrupulous criminal elements, resulting in the steel structures collapsing and posing extreme danger to members of the public,” she said.

“The vandalism and theft of infrastructure also comes at a great financial cost to the power utility, which is forced to replace the same at unsustainable costs, further threatening its liquidity and mandate to provide electricity.”

Qithi said a partnership with the public would be critical in fighting the scourge as residents could be the supplier's eyes and ears.

Three men appeared in the Roodepoort magistrate's court in January after being arrested on a tip-off from residents. They were allegedly found in possession of pylon tower members valued at R25,000.

This was a result of working with community members and other stakeholders, said Qithi.

The power utility has appealed to the public to partner with it to reduce such criminality by reporting illegal connections, theft and vandalism of infrastructure to the Eskom crime line: 0800-112-722.

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