Thieves robbing Eskom of conductors, cabling and related equipment cost the utility R102 million in the last financial year, according to its annual financial statement.<\/p>\n
This was a 30% increase from the previous year\u2019s R68 million and amounted to between 3 730GWh and 5 968GWh for the 2014\/15 financial year.<\/p>\n
Eskom revealed its profits had decreased by almost 50% to R3.6 billion in the 2014\/15 financial year ended 31 March 2015, constrained by load shedding, a maintenance backlog, its new build programme delay as well as illegal connections and crime.<\/p>\n
Operation Khanyisa, aimed at promoting the legal use of electricity by customers, resulted in over 2 700 tip-offs from the public during the financial year.<\/p>\n
Actions to combat the losses are managed by the Eskom network equipment crime committee in collaboration with affected state owned enterprises and the South African Police Services, the report explained.<\/p>\n
The combined effort resulted in 297 arrests and R11 million worth of stolen material was recovered.<\/p>\n
Eskom beefed up fraud investigations and, concluding 23 cases in 2015 worth R40 million compared to four cases the previous year, when there was R7 million worth of fraud.<\/p>\n
Total fruitless and wasteful expenditure accounted for R51 million (2014: R47 million) comprising 606 (2014: 354) incidents of which 18 incidents accounted for R28 million, the report showed.<\/p>\n
Total irregular expenditure accounted for R712 million in the financial year.<\/p>\n
Fin24<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n R550,000 for every Eskom employee<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Eskom<\/h3>\n