SA Reacts to Bomb Threats Directed at Eskom’s COO: “We Don’t Care, We Want Electricity”

• The police arrested a man in Vosman in eMalahleni suspected of threatening Eskom's COO with a bomb
• Eskom said Jan Oberholzer was threatened earlier this year in May by an unknown phone number
• The suspect was traced through joint investigations and was finally arrested on Friday by the South African Police Service (SAPS)

JOHANNESBURG - A man was arrested on Friday in Mpumalanga for threatening Jan Oberholzer, the Chief Operating Officer of Eskom (COO), with a bomb.

Eskom released a statement on Saturday saying the threat was made in May 2022 from an unknown phone number.

According to TimesLIVE, an investigation was conducted by internal security, which discovered sufficient evidence that connected the 27-year-old man to the crime.

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The man allegedly sent Oberholzer threatening messages using an unregistered SIM card, reported.

Bidvest Protea Coin investigator and the Hawks tracked the suspect down, and he was arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS), reported IOL.

The General Manager of Security at Eskom, Advocate Karen Pillay, said several threats had been directed at other executives at the power utility.

"The targeting of Eskom executives and employees who are focused and hard at work during these difficult times is very disturbing. Such acts of criminality are malicious, and Eskom takes them seriously."

Read the full statement from Eskom below:

South Africans commented on the alleged bomb threat on social media:

@Elf_Botha said:

"We don't care about Jan. He is not adding value to Eskom anyhow."

@ColleendeVilli3 wrote:

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"Wow! 'Nobody cares' seems to be the norm. No wonder we get nowhere in this country. Sad."

@tshidi3886 commented:

"We don't care, we want electricity."

@TauYaPhaahla01 posted:

"Honestly, we don't care about that. We want one thing from you, and that's electricity."

@alZawarrior said:

"Paranoia! Just last month, you reported that a bugging device was found in Andre's car; now this."

@llutladi mentioned:

"We don't care about that because it has nothing to do with loadshedding Stage 4."

@Fifstaref asked:

"And we suppose to be sympathetic to the matter?"

State won’t fire Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter out of fear of undue interference, says Mabuza

In related stories, Briefly News reported that Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter's fate is firmly in the hands of the power utility's board because the executive cannot interfere.

This is according to Deputy President David Mabuza, who told the National Council of Provinces on Thursday, 20 October, that government's hands are tied when comes to firing De Ruyter.

Source: Briefly News