Two Eskom employees and a plot owner were arrested on Monday 16 March for allegedly connecting customers illegally using Eskom’s transformer and other material in the north of Johannesburg.
According to a statement released on Thursday 19 March, all three employees appeared briefly in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday 18 March and they remain in custody.
The three employees were caught following public tip-offs. These leads were later followed by an extensive investigation through collaboration between Eskom and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
“This was part of an ongoing sting operation to deal with any criminality that seeks to undermine efforts to be efficient, contain costs, reduce theft-related energy losses, increase sales and collect revenue for services rendered,” said Eskom.
The arrest of the three employees brings the total number of employees who were caught in similar unlawful activities to five since the beginning of the year.