By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deploy 880 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members to help protect Eskom’s assets for the next six months.
The deployment is an extension of Operation Prosper – the initiative launched by the presidency to restore law an order in the country.
Operation Prosper was first launched in 2021 in collaboration with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to keep law and order during the 2021 July riots. The operation was launched again in December 2022 when soldiers were deployed to four power stations to protect them from criminals.
The deployment will cost taxpayers R111 million, adding to the R146 million bill they footed for deployment at the utility earlier this year.
“Members of the SANDF employed will continue to work in cooperation with the SAPS, to protect and safeguard national key points and critical infrastructure in the energy sector (ie, Eskom power stations),” Ramaphosa said.
According to the president’s latest notice, 880 members will now be deployed for operation between 18 October and 31 March 2024.
Eskom has been under siege by criminals for years – from low-level opportunistic and petty thieves to complex and highly organised syndicates.
The list of criminal activities it has had to suffer is well documented, with coal theft, diesel theft, contract exploitation, high-level corruption and even threats of violence adding to the stresses.
Former Eskom head of security Karen Pillay said earlier this year that these initiatives had not deterred brazen criminals.
Pillay said there were 35 incidents reported in March alone. “These incidents include cable theft, common theft, theft of diesel and malicious damage to property with an intent to steal”, Pillay said.
In Eskom’s latest reporting, the group noted that over the 2022/23 financial year, it has been saddled with a massive R6 billion bill for “material losses” attributed to criminal activity.
This includes R344 million related to theft and damage to equipment, R81 million attributed to fraud and corruption and a whopping R5.6 billion linked to “non-technical losses”.