Eskom to investigate alleged power cuts scandal

Power utility, Eskom says it is investigating the allegations of corruption made against its employees in Dobsonville, Soweto.

It said it was looking into the allegations after screenshots of a string of WhatsApp conversations between a Soweto ward councillor and an individual believed to be Eskom employee surfaced on social media alleging that the pair were colluding to switch off and damage the electricity infrastructure to demand customers to pay for its repairs.

“Eskom will not stop until it gets to the root of these allegations. The power utility has condemned threats made against its employees who work in the area and are conducting disconnections according to the power utility’s processes.

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“Until allegations levelled against these employees are proven true, we urge communities to treat our employees as innocent,” Eskom spokesperson, Amanda Qithi said.

The utility said it condemns threats made against its employees in Dobsonville and would not take lightly the threats.

Eskom also confirmed the procedural disconnection of the network in the affected parts of Dobsonville due to low purchases of electricity resulting in high revenue and energy losses in the area.

Recent areas in Soweto which were disconnected include Doornkop, Protea City, Greenvillage, Dobsonville Gardens and Meadowlands.

According to the utility, the process is implemented to prevent equipment failure and revenue loss in areas where there is a risk of electricity infrastructure exploding or failing as a result of illegal activities such as tampering, bypassing of meters and illegal connections which lead to network overloading.

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The restoration of supply will not be immediate as the network has to be normalised and declared safe before switching on.

“The mini substations which were switched off in Dobsonville were subsequently vandalised. To repair the vandalised electricity infrastructure, a 60% threshold of affected customers need to pay a minimum deposit of R500.00 towards the total remedial fee of R6052.00,” Qithi added.