Johannesburg - Eskom has confirmed on Thursday, the arrest of two Eskom contracted security guards and a taxi driver in the early hours of Saturday at an Eskom warehouse in Rosherville, Germiston for being in possession of cables.
The two Eskom contracted security guards who were on duty at the time of the crime had allegedly spent the night cutting the cable into small enough pieces to fit into the minibus taxi. The taxi was found parked outside the storeroom of the warehouse loaded with the Eskom cables with the driver seated inside the vehicle.
The three suspects were caught by Eskom in-house security officials following the minibus taxi they saw driving towards the back of the utility’s warehouse.
The three suspects were taken into custody by the South African Police Services (SAPS) where they were charged with theft of essential infrastructure. They all remained in custody after they were denied bail on their first appearance in court on Monday, 20 June, 2022.
“It is regrettable that two of our contractor guards are charged with theft of material they are employed to protect and look after. We have, over and above the criminal proceedings, barred the suspects from entering all Eskom sites. We are most impressed with the level of alertness and quick reaction by our in-house security officials in foiling this planned theft. It is our hope that this will send a strong message to criminals, especially those within, that we are widely alert to safeguard the assets of Eskom to ensure that our mandate to provide electricity is not interfered with,” said Kith Maitisa, middle manager for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality in Eskom, Gauteng.
IOL