Eskom has started vetting contractors and employees after multiple complaints of sabotage at its power plants while the search for a new chief executive continues.
Eskom has identified at least five employees in its latest sabotage investigation which began in May. A source in the utility’s investigation team confirmed that Eskom has placed them on suspension for sabotage.
The team has found evidence of theft against employees stealing plant equipment, which led to the shutting down of systems, causing unplanned load-shedding.
The source, who did not want to be named, added that Eskom was looking into cases of sabotage by its employees, including senior officials, who broke the utility’s equipment to get new contracts or contract extensions.
“What is prevalent in the investigation is that these thieves are not new to Eskom, they are hired through contractors to come and study the systems and are able to then steal the equipment.
“We have a case of someone who was a contractor, then hired by Eskom again to work as an employee through a new identity who is fingered in the investigation,” he said.
Eskom has been struggling with instances of sabotage and crime for years, which have shown little sign of slowing down. These problems include valves being installed incorrectly, and other actions that had caused repeated delays in getting the power stations online.
Futile exercise
A senior official at Eskom said the utility’s move to increase security at its power stations and employ new technology to monitor its sites had proven to be futile because sabotage incidents continue.
“Security and intelligence officials have had limited success in capturing the suspects. Crime syndicates are active and have been implicated in cable theft in the past. However, the increased incidents prove that there are more planned events in place as the security companies employed seem to be part of the syndicates,” he said.
The country has seen the worst power outages since 2019, which led to stage six load-shedding last month.
Some of the cases the investigation team is busy with include:
- Cables cut and stolen at the Hendrina power station. The power station failed to start after night copper bars on the unit’s generator had been removed, and reactor earth bars had also been removed;
- A power cable leading to a valve at Tutuka power station’s unit five that was cut and other new emerging theft allegations against employees who stole pipelines;
- Incorrect oil that was added to a unit at Duvha power station in eMalahleni in Mpumalanga, which caused a fire and delayed returning the 570 megawatt unit to service; and
- Camden power station in September where a senior technician intentionally opened a shut-off valve and allowed dangerous chemicals to flow into the supply of demineralised water
Hawks spokesperson Thandi Mlambo said the cases are still under investigation and “the outcome of the investigation, with the decision of court, will determine who should be charged”.
The utility’s spokesperson, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, added that Eskom is investigating the incidents and its actions will be guided by its well-established disciplinary code.
“Where mistakes and errors creep in, Eskom investigates and then takes corrective disciplinary action to manage the employees in question to keep such incidents to the minimum,” he said.
Previously, Eskom dismissed eight employees for sabotage or human error after they caused Medupi power station’s 800 megawatt unit four generator to explode.
At the time, Eskom said the explosion occurred when technicians attempted to displace hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air to find an external leak.
“Oxygen was introduced to the generator before the hydrogen had been properly purged, causing it to create an explosive mixture that ignited. This explosion has resulted in extensive damage to the generator,” Eskom said.
Notorious Tutuka
A source at Tutuka’s security department, which is one of the largest power stations in the country, said the station receives more than 10 reports of sabotage and theft cases a week.
“Despite the arrests made early this year, we still receive many cases of employees stealing oil, cables and control air pipes that supply the turbines.
“There have been mass disciplinary cases, some manage to evade the process all together through their connections with powerful seniors, and some unfortunately as you have seen, have been arrested. To answer your question, the utility knows the offenders,” the security official said.
Early this year, Eskom suspended 20 employees for theft and collusion at the Tutuka after R1.3-billion in spares at the plant were stolen during the 2020-21 financial year. In addition, three employees were arrested and are facing criminal charges following the discovery of the criminal oil syndicate.
In 2019, Bizz Tracers was mandated by Eskom, at power station level, to investigate the repeated breakdowns at the plant. The report found that a current Tutuka manager allegedly orchestrated sabotage at the plant so that companies close to him would get contracts from Eskom.
The report said current and former managers allegedly stole cables and destroyed other components to receive repeat business and contracts at Tutuka.
Eskom acts against saboteurs
Eskom’s spokesperson, Mantshantsha, said: “A formidable team had already been investigating abuses and sabotage in the organisation for the past few months. They are assisted by a special investigation unit set up by the police, as well as a team of operators from the State Security Agency.”
According to the source in the investigation team, evidence has shown that one of the employees had stolen large amounts of equipment with the assistance of security guards, which delayed maintenance at Medupi.
“During the investigation, we found that the employee deliberately took equipment to maintain the systems in the power plant, out of the premises with them to sell to outsiders. We believe the security helped them take it, but it is still under investigation,” the source said.
The utility has experienced at least 10 acts of sabotage including the recent incident at Camden, where a senior technician was suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation into alleged negligence.
“The technician was suspended after he intentionally opened a shut-off valve and allowed dangerous chemicals to flow into the supply of demineralised water to the boilers. The power generation boilers were consequently switched off to prevent damage to them and to turbine equipment,” Eskom said in a statement.
Bizz Tracers’ investigator, Calvin Rafadi, recommended that the utility managers be submitted to lifestyle audits, “because some have security companies with vast interests in Eskom’s sabotage challenges which can be questionable when these incidents occur”.
Cost of sabotage
Speaking on the economic effect of sabotage on the economy, Eskom’s chief executive, André de Ruyter said the increased outages and theft at the plants have cost the utility at least R4-billion annually.
He called for four state-owned companies (Eskom, Telkom, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and Transnet) to have an approach to security that is in the best interests of all of society.
“The opportunity was there to integrate our security efforts even more and to identify areas where the state-owned companies have common infrastructure. It is in our interest to protect the railway line supplying coal to Majuba power station and if we can collaborate on that, there’s cost saving, there’s efficiency that we need to pursue,” he said.
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