Eskom to intensify war on electricity theft

Eskom is intensifying its anti-electricity theft campaign “Operation Khanyisa” in targeted hot spot areas such as Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and Free State.

Johannesburg - Eskom on Thursday said its anti-electricity theft campaign “Operation Khanyisa” will intensify this week in targeted hot spot areas such as Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and Free State in a bid for the power supplier to save billions of rand. In a statement on Thursday, head of Operation Khanyisa, Dileep John said employing a localised approach hinged on strong law enforcement including investigations, arrests, court cases, meter auditing, customer education and awareness.

“Operation Khanyisa has helped reduce Eskom's losses from 7.12 percent in 2013 to 6.43 percent in 2016, which translates to a saving of R1.4 billion every year in electricity that Eskom would have generated at a loss,” John said.

“Contrary to the commonly held belief that electricity theft only takes place in residential areas, this crime is also prevalent in the business community.”

John said a case in point was Mankweng in the Limpopo Province, where a number of small business owners had been found to be connecting illegally and in some instances even going as far as colluding with certain contractors tasked by Eskom to disconnect transgressors.

In one incident, the owner of a popular pizza franchise appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate's Court after being disconnected by Eskom, yet the business continued to receive power through an illegal connection.

In another incident, a tavern owner was fined and his power disconnected after it emerged that he had been connecting illegally since 2011, aided by an unscrupulous contractor.

John said Operation Khanyisa, Eskom's campaign which promotes legal, safe and efficient use of electricity, had led to the recovery of R618-million in revenue for Eskom since 2013 and the arrest of 50 electricity theft suspects, as well as the opening of 26 cases. “This would not have been possible without help from the public,” John said. “Thank you to the 17 000 tip-offs we receive from the public since the campaign started, we have been able to bring to book perpetrators of this crime, which costs South Africa an estimated R20 billion each year.”

John said putting electricity thieves out of business also meant illegal connections were removed, which reduced the number of deaths of innocent people, particularly children, who get electrocuted.

He urged community members to take a stand against electricity theft by reporting suspected electricity theft anonymously to Crime Line.

African News Agency