Mashatile says there have been arrests for theft and vandalism at Eskom — here's how many

More than 50 arrests have been made regarding the theft and vandalism of Eskom infrastructure since January, ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile has revealed. 

Delivering the keynote address at the ANC breakfast session in North West on Monday, Mashatile said the government adopted an integrated security approach in collaboration with law enforcement agencies to protect Eskom infrastructure from vandalism and cable theft. 

“To address infrastructure and associated crimes that affect Eskom's operations, Eskom and Natjoints [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure] established what we called the energy security priority committee, and more than 50 infrastructure-related arrests have been made since January,” he said. 

Mashatile said the government needs to protect Eskom infrastructure at all costs. 

“We are committed to implementing all necessary steps to maintain the security of our infrastructure for the community's benefit since it is crucial for building resilience, inclusive and affluent communities,” he said. 

Earlier this year, Eskom said theft and damage to its network led to prolonged outages and put lives at risk. 

Gauteng spokesperson Amanda Qithi said theft and vandalism increased to disastrous levels, threatening essential services and lives in the province. 

“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.

Eskom appealed to the public to become its partner to reduce such criminality by reporting illegal connections, theft and vandalism of infrastructure to its crime line: 0800-112-722.

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