By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom says the main culprit behind the country’s power problems is rampant criminality, including acts of theft and sabotage and the presence of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops at the power stations, so far, not had a noticeable effect on discouraging criminal activity.
Speaking to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity, station managers said that criminal elements are actively sabotaging Eskom’s power stations on a regular basis – either motivated by political ends or out of spite for being passed over for promotions or other perks.
Late last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as the commander-in-chief of the SANDF deployed the army to act as a deterrent for criminals who continue to target the utility’s power stations.
The managers told the publication that there is little that a couple of soldiers trained for warfare can do against widespread criminality and that the stations themselves never requested the SANDF deployment, knowing that it would be a waste of time.
They said that the Hawks or the State Security Agency would have better luck stamping out crime by going undercover.
In 2022, Eskom also confirmed that some acts of sabotage were by contractors looking to secure further work from the power utility after a culprit was caught in the act and confessed.
Eskom is under siege by criminals, from low-level opportunistic and petty thieves to complex and highly organised syndicates. The list of criminal activities it has had to suffer is storied and long, with coal theft, diesel theft, contract exploitation, high-level corruption and even threats of violence adding to the stresses.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter revealed this past week that Tutuka Power Station – one of the four stations the SANDF was deployed to – is the worst-performing station in its fleet, where criminality is the direct cause.
The station operates at an energy availability factor of 15% to 17%.
“The station’s manager has to wear a bulletproof vest when walking the stations and is accompanied by two bodyguards. His wife has bodyguards, and his children go to school with bodyguards – all as a result of threats being made on his life,” de Ruyter said.
He said criminality is an egregious problem that needs to be addressed.
If this problem isn’t resolved, Eskom’s entire recovery plan is at risk of not delivering the megawatts it needs to the national grid, as Tutuka is a key element of this plan.
“Until the criminality at Tutuka is addressed, we will have a significant risk to delivering megawatts to the grid,” de Ruyter said.
As criminals continue their siege, South Africa has been thrust into the worst-ever levels of load shedding as the 15-year power crisis deepens.
Load shedding has been implemented on a near-permanent basis since September 2022, and has hit the country at high stages every day in 2023 so far.