Monday, 1 June 2020:
The three men were apprehended in Orlando East, Soweto on 30 May 2020 for
allegedly tampering with an Eskom split meter box where supply to approximately
20 households was interrupted due to a network fault. The community members apprehended
the suspects while they were busy with their illegal activities and they were subsequently
arrested by the South African Police Services (SAPS). The trio were charged
with damage to essential infrastructure and are due to appear before the
Magistrate’s court in Soweto on Monday, 1 June 2020.
In a separate
incident in Orlando East, two male members of the public were also arrested on
Saturday, 30 May 2020 for allegedly tampering with meter boxes and illegally connecting
to the Eskom network. The Eskom security personnel caught the pair in action
while on routine patrol in the area which is one of the hotspots associated
with repeated equipment failure due to illegal connections, meter bypasses and
overloading of the network which causes the failure and explosion of mini
substations.
Eskom
continues to implement load reductions during peak hours in the mornings and
evenings due to the network overloads, especially in areas with high-population
density and multiple and/or backyard dwellings. In addition, Eskom will carry on to intensify its efforts to safeguard its assets and ensure
they are preserved to operate optimally as per intended purpose of provision of
electricity to the residents and other essential services during this lockdown
period. The electricity infrastructure and assets remains the backbone of the
economy that should be preserved for current and future electricity needs.
Eskom would
like to commend the community of Orlando East for heeding the call of
partnering against illegal connections and operations as these activities are
disruptive and lead to unnecessary prolonged outages.
Ends.