By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom says that is launching an investigation into the conduct of one of its employees after the shutdown of Camden Power Station due to demineralised water contamination last week.
Camden power station in Mpumalanga was pulled offline this past week after a senior technician ‘opened the wrong valve’ and ended up contaminating the plant’s demineralised water supply.
While seven of the units at the station were returned to service over the weekend, the remaining units remain offline and anticipated to be brought back in the coming days.
The incident caused the entire plant to be taken offline to prevent damage to its components. The shutdown came amid the worst-ever levels of load shedding implemented by Eskom and exacerbated the deepening energy crisis. Camden supplies 1,561MW of power or 3.4% to the national grid.
The company said that it is looking into the incident, and the technician in question has been suspended pending further investigations.
“Eskom can confirm that an employee has been suspended and an investigation into his conduct is underway. Once the investigation is complete, Eskom’s disciplinary process will kick in, and the appropriate action will be taken, “said Eskom.
It was likely that the incident was intentional, as the valve in question required a grown man to open it with both hands – adding that it is not an action that an experienced technician would have done accidentally.
Addressing the incident, Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said that the act was deliberate.
“The events that unfolded there [at Camden power station] a few days ago is clearly an example of… let’s call it ‘resistance’ to be euphemistic,” he said.
Gordhan alluded to similar incidents happening at the power utility, noting that some Eskom employees were “resisting” moves at the company to root out corruption and apply higher performance standards.
This latest incident at Camden adds to the growing pile of sabotage allegations at the power utility.
In November 2021, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter confirmed a deliberate act of sabotage near the Lethabo power station in Vereeniging, where there was clear evidence that an electricity pylon had been deliberately cut and felled.
Gordhan said that these actions undermine not only Eskom, but the entire country.
He added that one must start looking at whether Eskom is now being abused for specific political gain, similar to what happened during state capture.
Meanwhile minister of trade and industry Ebrahim Patel said that government thinks there is an enormous opportunity on the energy front to do deals with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has been investing in renewable energy as a significant part of moving away from an oil-based economy…the opportunity is in these discussions to try and see how South Africa can have and attract more investment from Saudi Arabia.”
The minister said that the biggest immediate challenge to international trade is South Africa’s energy supply, which needs to be made more stable. He added that in regard to renewables, some Saudi Arabian companies are already in discussions.