Eskom contractor arrested for sabotage
A CONTRACTOR working at the Camden Power Station was arrested on Tuesday after he was positively linked to an incident of sabotage following intensive investigative work by Eskom teams.
Camden Power Station, in Mpumalanga, is a coal-fired power plant operated by Eskom.
The perpetrator, who is employed by a maintenance company working at the power station, intentionally removed the oil drain plug from the bearing causing the oil burners to trip repeatedly, Eskom said in a statement.
Eskom said this malicious act caused all the oil to drain out from the bearing, damaging the bearing which, in turn, prevented the mills from operating optimally.
Camden Unit 4 subsequently tripped after losing all the mills. The incident occurred on Thursday November 10 at approximately 4:54pm.
A case of alleged sabotage was immediately opened for investigation at the Ermelo police station.
Eskom said intensive internal investigations led to the culprit being identified and questioned about the incident. The evidence obtained and the confession made by the perpetrator revealed the plug was intentionally removed to cause the trip. Eskom stated that this act of sabotage would ensure that his employer was awarded additional maintenance and repair jobs at the power station.
Advocate Karen Pillay, General Manager for Security at Eskom said, “It is disheartening to find that some of our contractors are unscrupulous, have malicious intent and are willing to plunge the country into further load shedding at a time when the electricity grid is highly constrained.”
Pillay said Eskom had always suspected that some of their maintenance contractors and employees were behind these acts of sabotage.
“We shall continuously work with the law enforcement agencies to bring these insiders to book and ensure that justice is meted out but, most importantly, that those with similar tendencies across Eskom are arrested and removed from the organisation,” said Pillay.
This arrest, with another two last week in which contractor truck drivers were arrested while in possession of stolen coal, is the result of persistent and excellent collaborative work by the Eskom Security Team and the South African Police Services, who are working tirelessly to identify and disrupt the criminal networks.