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Eskom battling thugs over illegal electricity connections written By Myles Illidge
Eskom and its security partners must conduct threat and risk assessments and deploy South African Police Services (SAPS) resources in high-risk areas with illegal connections before its technicians can disconnect them.
This is due to the high risk of Eskom’s employees being violently attacked by community members trying to protect their illegal collections.
Responding to parliamentary questions from Democratic Alliance MP Edwin Baptie, Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa outlined the steps Eskom takes to protect its employees.
“Eskom security departments have established security contracts which include escorting Eskom employees intending to execute work in high-risk areas and the removal of illegal connections on a small scale,” the Minister said.
Eskom’s security department first conducts a risk assessment by scanning areas with illegal connections for potential threats before deploying teams to remove the connections.
“Once the security department has concluded the threat and risk assessment, the SAPS District Commanders are approached to initiate plans and mobilise resources to protect Eskom employees,” said Ramokgopa.
SAPS District Commanders’ offices lead the planning of such operations with the help of the District Public Order Policing.
Eskom, City Power, and law enforcement took on a large-scale illegal electricity operation in December 2024.
The team uncovered the operation on a farm in Leeupoort, Gauteng, serving over 600 informal households. Eskom estimated that the operation cost it more than R6.6 million in lost revenue.
“Intelligence investigations uncovered that stolen electrical equipment was being used to supply electricity illegally to nearby informal settlements in exchange for payment,” it said.
The joint operation raided three houses on the farm, which Eskom said were heavily guarded. The teams recovered critical infrastructure, including two transformers and 150-meter boxes belonging to Eskom and City Power.
“The suspect was charged with tampering with essential infrastructure and malicious damage to property, including illegal redistribution and resale of electricity,” the power utility added.
The utility said it had been investigating the illegal operation for over six years and had disconnected the property on several occasions just for the owner to reconnect the power supply.
In subsequent feedback to MyBroadband, Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said it took six years to successfully raid the farm due to its heavy guard and fears for the safety of Eskom employees.
She explained that Eskom forcing its way onto the property would have put its technicians in significant danger.
“We had to send our technical guys to go and read the meter, and we found some heavily armed guards at this customer’s property,” said Mokwena.
“So, clearly, we couldn’t just force our way in because we need to make sure that our employees are safe. However, we have been working with the police since 2018, since we found out that we are unable to get into the property.”
She said it was unfortunate that it took so long to make the breakthrough.
“We had to come with about 80 police officers and beef up our security guys as well to assist,” she added.
Illegal connections result in substantial revenue losses for Eskom and municipal power distributors. They also contribute to the risk of network overload and necessitate mechanisms like load reduction to protect local grids.
The power utility has warned that people found to be tampering with or damaging electrical infrastructure could face punishments of up to 30 years in jail under the Criminal Matters Amendment Act.
“Such activities disrupt essential services, pose serious safety risks, and undermine the sustainability of the electricity network,” it said.
source:Eskom battling thugs over illegal electricity connections – MyBroadband
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