By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom says the cause of the underground entrapment of miners from Sibanye Gold Mine in Randfontein was due to theft and vandalism.
Eskom spokesperson Amanda Qithi said the incident happened on Monday, and that they had dispatched a team of technicians to restore supply to the mine.
Qithi said “Cooke shaft 1/Cooke, Cooke shaft 3/Kagiso and Panvlakte/Cooke reduction’s 132 kV lines fell during the storm as the integrity of the pylons along these lines was compromised.
“The pylon structures were weakened by the theft of the tower members and the unstable ground caused by digging around the foundation,” she said.
Qithi added that the theft of tower members resulted in the instability and collapse of the pylons that carry high-voltage power lines, which posed a severe safety risk to members of the public.
She said production in the gold-extracting mine came to a grinding halt while Eskom worked to restore supply at significant costs.
Mashangu Xivambu, Eskom’s provincial maintenance and operations senior manager, said the utility recently reported that vandalism and theft had extended to pylons. The pylon’s tower members are often stolen by criminals, resulting in the steel structures collapsing.
“It is disturbing that this incident happens a week after we raised a concern about incidents of theft and vandalism of pylons,” said Xivambu.
Xivambu appealed to the public to work with Eskom by reporting illegal connections, theft, and vandalism of electricity infrastructure to the Eskom crime line number: 0800 112 722.