Army deployed to Eskom power stations
Power utility Eskom has confirmed reports of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) being deployed to some of its power stations.
“Eskom can confirm that the SANDF is being deployed. Eskom has received deployments at four sites,” it said.
The power stations which are seeing a military presence are:
- Majuba
- Camden
- Grootvlei and
- Tutuka
The exact nature of the deployment is not yet known, with Eskom redirecting all queries to the presidency. According to reports from News24, the reason for the deployment is to protect the power stations from theft of critical equipment and infrastructure.
Theft and sabotage have cost Eskom billions of rands in damages and losses at a time when the utility – and the country – can ill-afford it.
Presenting an operational update to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in October, Eskom revealed that its work with the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) pointed to entire criminal syndicates operating within its supply chain, including acts of sabotage.
Eskom has made several key arrests in recent months related to the theft of coal, and diesel and one case of active sabotage.
In November, a truck driver and his supervisor from a transport company subcontracted to haul coal to the group’s Matla Power Station were arrested for allegedly stealing good quality coal and replacing it with poor quality product.
Two security guards employed by a company contracted by Eskom to protect Port Rex Power Station in East London were arrested for stealing 5,863 litres of diesel also in November, and in two separate incidents, truck drivers delivering coal to Camden and Kendal power stations were also arrested.
One of the biggest arrests was a contractor working at the Camden Power Station, who was arrested after he was positively linked to an incident of sabotage,
The saboteur – a contract worker – confessed that he purposefully damaged equipment to cause a breakdown at the power station so that his employer could get more maintenance contracts from the power utility.
These high-level crimes are taking place while the country experiences the worst levels of load shedding on record.
Load shedding is currently at stage 6 until further notice after eight generating units at Eskom’s power stations broke down. Since Thursday afternoon, breakdowns of a unit each at Duvha, Grootvlei, Tutuka, Kriel, Lethabo, Camden power stations occurred as well as two units at Kendal Power Station.
In addition, the delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Duvha, Matla, Camden and Hendrina power stations has also contributed to the capacity constraints.
Eskom’s power stations are struggling, with breakdowns becoming more frequent – meanwhile, the group has run out of money to buy more diesel to keep its open-cycle gas turbines burning. The utility has also taken Koeberg unit 1 offline, removing 1,000MW from the grid, while 3,000MW remains offline from damaged units at Medupi and Kusile.
Read: Sabotage, coal theft and the other high-level crimes rocking Eskom
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