Eskom working around the clock to restore power in Walkerville and Drumblade

Eskom is concerned with the increase in incidents of theft and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure in Gauteng.

These criminal acts result in the loss of revenue and increased replacement costs for the power utility. Theft and vandalism of electricity equipment leave customers without electricity supply for prolonged periods, inconveniencing law abiding, paying customers and community service points such as healthcare and education facilities, businesses and the economy at large.

Eskom technicians are working around the clock to repair and restore supply to the remaining parts of Drumblade and Walkerville in the Vaal. This follows an extended outage caused by cable theft and vandalism at the Goldview substation on Wednesday, 26 July 2023.

Recently, the power utility reported the theft of oil from the transformer of its Randburg substation, while the residents of Buccleuch and Waterfall in Johannesburg were left without supply for five days due to theft and vandalism of the electricity equipment not long ago.

“We have put controls in place to enhance the existing measures to try and eliminate and guard against theft and vandalism of our infrastructure as it affects the livelihoods of our customers”, says Mashangu Xivambu, Maintenance and Operations Senior Manager in Gauteng.

The power utility conducts risk assessments to classify and identify hot spot areas and place static guards strategically at these sites. Armed response patrols are also conducted at interval periods along the identified routes and critical infrastructure sites.

“Eskom cannot win this fight alone, we partner and collaborate with community members, community security companies, business forums, community policing forums (CPF), SAPS and POPS to try and reduce theft and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure. We appeal to those communities who are not yet on board, to join forces with us in the battle against this scourge that is affecting all of us, concluded Xivambu.

Members of the public are encouraged to report suspicious activities anonymously to the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22 (toll-free) or to the nearest police station.

Statement issued by Eskom.