Eskom, through the Operation Khanyisa campaign, is making progress in the fight against electricity and cable theft, the parastatal says.
For the six months to September 30, efforts by the Operation Khanyisa campaign resulted in 50 arrests of electricity theft suspects and the opening of 26 cases on the court roll, Eskom said in a statement.
“Furthermore, Eskom security investigations made 144 arrests and goods to the value of R29 million were recovered during the period.”
In South Africa, electricity theft remained one of the most serious but under-reported crimes, in spite of its consequences, including deaths that resulted from dangerous illegal connections, Eskom said.
Forms of electricity theft included illegal connections, meter tampering and bypassing, buying and selling of illegal prepaid power vouchers through stolen or ghost credit dispensing units (CDUs), infrastructure theft, and non-payment, all of which were punishable by law.
Eskom would continue to investigate, arrest, and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, particularly the kingpins and syndicates.
“We thank members of the public for helping Operation Khanyisa by reporting suspected electricity theft and we urge everyone to keep on reporting anonymously to Crime Line on 32211 (R1/SMS).”
South Africa Today – South Africa News
