South Africans Want Harsh Sentences for Eskom Employees Who Stole Copper Cables Worth R540k in Welkom
- Two people who have an association with Eskom have been arrested for helping themselves to Eskom's copper cables worth more than R500 000
- The theft of the cables happened at an Eskom warehouse in Welkom located in the Free State province
- South Africans have applauded the state-owned power utility for the arrest and are calling for harsh punishment
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WELKOM - Two people have been apprehended for being responsible for the theft of Eskom's copper cables in Welkom, Free State. They managed to get away with a large quantity of the cables estimated to be valued at R540 000.
The arrested men are both associated with the state-owned power utility, one being an employee of Eskom and the other a contractor.
Source: UGC
The suspects were arrested with the help of a patrolling police captain from the Welkom K9 Unit, reports MyBroadband.
The two people are expected to make a court appearance in the Welkom Magistrate's Court on Thursday, 25 November.
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In a statement issued by Eskom, the power utility believes thieves stole the cables from a warehouse that belongs to Eskom in Welkom. Eskom thanked the police for their work and has urged South African citizens to report suspicious criminal behaviour on the toll-free Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22.
South Africans react to the cable theft in Welkom
Social media users had a lot to say about the Eskom employee who stole copper cables. Some people think that other people who work at the Welkom warehouse have to be accomplices, while others are worried loadshedding will make a return.
Here's what they had to say:
@Blubug77 said:
"Please, time to charge people with treason and sabotage. This is killing our economy."
@simpiwendlovu said:
"Kindly fire all the employees working at that warehouse, it means more theft is happening under their nose and some are part of this criminality & this has been happening for sometime costing Eskom millions of Rands."
@LutiguardMedia said:
"When are you arresting those employees who do business worth billions with Eskom?"
@gillfran1 said:
"Root them out and lock them up!"
Mzansi is not buying That there was sabotage at Eskom's Lethabo power station
Briefly News previously reported that During a virtual press briefing on Friday, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the Hawks have been called to investigate an alleged act of sabotage at the Lethabo power station in the Free State province.
De Ruyter says on at 6pm Wednesday night, a tower collapsed on a distribution line and the line also tripped. This happened as a result of a small pylon carrying power lines being cut by the alleged sabotagers.
De Ruyter added that eight supports which are called stays were also cut. He stated that the stays were quite sturdy meaning that some sort of cutting equipment was used on them, according to a report by News24.
Source: Briefly News
