• Eskom says it managed to arrest four employees and a contractor who were involved in an attempt to steal half a million Rand worth of heavy oil fuel.
• The alleged thieves have been detained and charged after an investigation led to their arrests.
• The incident occurred when an alleged thief tried to drive away with tonnes of heavy oil fuel but was stopped and caught in the act.

Despite nearly 150 days without loadshedding, South Africa’s electrical utility Eskom is still dealing with sabotage and a criminal element at its power stations. Eskom announced on Wednesday that five people working at the Camden Power Station have been arrested.

Four Eskom employees and one contractor security guard were apprehended after it was discovered they were connected to the theft of around R500 000 in heavy oil from the power station. The accused were charged and are being detained at the local police station in Ermelo, Eskom said in a statement shared to X.

The arrests of the five workers were initially made on Friday 10th August 2024, Eskom says, during a midnight operation where two Eskom employees were caught and charged for their role in an operation to steal heavy oil from the company.

Two more employees were arrested following investigations, a weighbridge operator and a control room operator, as well as the security guard.

All the accused will now remain in custody until 27th August 2024 as the case has been remanded twice.

Eskom discovered the attempt to steal the heavy oil when a routine inspection by the Eskom Security team found one of the alleged thieves in the middle of the act.

“A suspicious truck attempting to leave the station was intercepted, and the driver was asked to park on the side of the road,” the statement reads.

“Upon presenting a weighbridge slip, the driver claimed that 30 610kg of heavy fuel oil had been offloaded at Camden Power Station. However, a subsequent inspection revealed that the truck was still fully loaded with fuel oil. The driver fled the scene, triggering further investigations that led to the arrests.”

“While the majority of our employees are hardworking and dedicated to enhancing Eskom’s performance, we are fully committed to eradicating corruption. The recent arrests are a positive step in our ongoing efforts to eliminate criminal activities within our organisation,” said Botse Sikhwitshi, Eskom’s acting general manager for security.

Eskom says that if any member of the public wants to report suspicious activity related to the utility, be it fraud, illegal electricity sales, theft of coal, diesel and crimes targeting electrical infrastructure, they can do so anonymously via the Eskom Crime Line and WhatsApp number: 081 333 3323.

[Image – Photo by Iqram-O-dowla Shawon on Unsplash]