Eskom in Limpopo said its revenue has increased since the arrest of members of a prepaid electricity syndicate, who were allegedly enriching themselves with old vending machines.<\/p>\n
The company said it has been losing at least R400 million per year as results of a Credit Dispensing Unit machine stolen by the syndicate six years ago.<\/p>\n
Eskom\u2019s provincial spokesperson, Dikgabane Rampedi, told News24 on the sidelines of Wellington Marumo\u2019s trial at Mankweng Magistrate\u2019s court on Tuesday: \u201cWe have managed to reduce the impact since Marumo was arrested and our sale has increased over R37 million a month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Marumo used phased out machines when selling electricity voucher to customers in Mankweng area.<\/p>\n
Credit Dispending Unit machines were phased out in 2009 after Eskom suffered heavy losses from the illegal sale of electricity as the system was vulnerable for exploitation.<\/p>\n
However, investigations by police and the Eskom Fraud Unit discovered that nearly 580 vouchers were sold between 2009 and November 2012.<\/p>\n
The court heard that the syndicate made a combined illegal profit of R264\u00a0600, when selling units at lower rate to Eskom\u2019s standard rates.<\/p>\n
Eskom\u2019s Fraud Examiner, Louie Rossow, earlier in the trial told court that the attack on the system was causing the company serious losses.<\/p>\n
Marumo pleaded not guilty to 580 charges, despite overwhelming evidence against him.<\/p>\n
Recruiting customers<\/strong><\/p>\n According to police investigations, code discovered on the receipts were fromthree machines that were stolen when Eskom recalled and destroyed CDU machines.<\/p>\n The court heard that a ring leader recruited customers by promising them more units at discounted rates.<\/p>\n In one instance, a customer was able to secure 400 units for R200, something the power utility said was unregulated and unstandardised.<\/p>\n Rampedi appealed to the community not to support or buy discounted electricity, saying: \u201cThere is not a discount for electricity, the price of electricity is regulated. Don\u2019t buy or support discount electricity from dealers.\u201d<\/p>\n Marumo is said to have been the leader of a syndicate operating in Mankweng and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n He was released on R100 000 bail in March last year.<\/p>\n The court was also told that Eskom was unable to stop the machines from operating because the vending machines, unlike new technology, operate offline.<\/p>\n Elainne Adams, Eskom\u2019s information system manager, told the court that Eskom could not stop the machines from operating.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not possible to stop that machine, it is not linked. The machine will stop issuing vouchers in 2024 if is not retrieved,\u201d she said<\/p>\n The trial was adjourned until July 8, for the State to allow the police fraud analyst to unpack how money was transferred between ring leaders.<\/p>\n Eskom says no to R1.5 billion cost-cutting<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on Eskom<\/h3>\n