Eskom Battles Vandalism, Urges Communities To Report Incidents Following Sebokeng Incident

• State-owned entity Eskom told Briefly News that crime syndicates pose a serious threat to its infrastructure in communities
• Recently, the Seboka Substation in Emfuleni, Gauteng, was vandalised, leaving communities in the dark for days
• Residents spoke to Briefly News about the impact of the vandalism, and the state utility called on community members to speak up when they witness instances of vandalism

With nine years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, provided insights into infrastructure challenges and state-owned enterprises in South Africa at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

EMFULENI — Eskom continues to fight criminal elements, scrap dealers and volatile communities to prevent infrastructure vandalism. Briefly News spoke to the SOE about its challenges and measures to curb this crime.

Eskom discusses vandalism

Eskom told Briefly News that criminal syndicates present challenges in keeping its infrastructure safe and away from vandalism. The Seboka Substation in Sebokeng, Emfuleni, was vandalised on 7 December 2024, resulting in a two-day power outage.

Read also

EFF, eNCA bury the hatchet amid elective conference hullabaloo, SA chimes in

The state utility said it continuously partners with law enforcement agencies, other state-owned companies, councillors, businesses, and traditional healers to fight crime affecting its critical infrastructure.

Issues Eskom faces

Eskom said common issues it experiences include primary cable theft, transformer and other critical equipment vandalism, illegal connections, and damage to its network infrastructure. In 2023, Eskom revealed that it suffered an annual R7 billion loss due to illegal connections.

"Crime syndicates are a major concern, and we thus make a plea to our communities to assist us in the fight against crime. The safety and security threat to our employees who are seized with service repair and restoration in volatile communities remains a challenge for the organisation," it said.

It strongly condemned the continuous theft and vandalism of its critical infrastructure and called on community members and leaders to report crime incidents, including vandalism and theft. The Laudium community recently swiftly acted when it reported the theft of transformers by Tshwane employees at the Laudium Substation in November. Dozens were arrested.

Read also

280 Protea Glen homes built on top of Johannesburg Water supply pipelines

"We are ensuring consistent and continuous screening and vetting of contractors and staff to prevent and minimise insider threat involvement and collusion," Eskom said.

Community members bemoan vandalism

Briefly News spoke to Sebokeng and Evaton community members affected by the blackout caused by vandalism at the Seboka Substation.

Gladys Machakela, who lives in Evaton, told Briefly News that her meat and food were spoiled because of the blackout. She also complained that the area experienced regular outages due to vandalism.

"It's difficult to understand how Eskom cannot protect the substations because this vandalism happens in broad daylight," she said.

Sakhile Mthimkulu, who lives in Sebokeng, said his appliances had to be fixed because of the sudden power outages.

"I was watching TV when, without warning, the electricity went out. We later discovered that there was vandalism. My TV was damaged ,and I had to take it in for repairs," he said.

Read also

Home Affairs introduces deportation buses for illegal immigrants, SA supports

Foreign nationals arrested with stolen cable

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the South African Police Service busted six men in Eldorado Park on 4 December with stolen cable. The cops acted on a tip-off that the suspects were about to steal the wires.

When the cops arrived at the substation, they found R250,000 worth of cable in the car they were travelling in. They arrested them, and South Africans reacted to the incident.

Source: Briefly News