Truck driver arrested for theft of Eskom coal
A 28-YEAR-old man is expected to appear in the Belfast Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Thursday on charges of fraud and theft.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks). The man is alleged to have stolen coal from struggling power utility Eskom.
This as the country has been plunged between Stage 2 and Stage 4 load shedding.
According to Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase, the truck that the suspect was driving was sub-contracted to collect coal from the Msimbithi Coal Mine in Wonderfontein near Belfast and deliver it to the Camden power station operated by Eskom in Ermelo.
“It is alleged that the truck driver deviated from that route with the original coal worth approximately R30,000 and delivered it to an illegal coal yard on Bethal Road in Vaalbank near Middelburg. A rubble coal mixed with stones was allegedly loaded on the truck for delivery to Camden Power Station,” Nkwalase said.
He added that the truck driver was intercepted by members of the Bidvest Protea Coin Security upon arrival at the power station.
The matter was reported to the police and was referred to the Hawks for further investigation.
“The man was arrested and the truck as well as the rubble coal mixed with stones were seized for further investigation.
“The preliminary investigation by the Hawks’ Crimes Against the State (CATS) team revealed that the criminal actions were not only meant to defraud Eskom, but to also cause irreversible damage to the machinery and derail the electricity production process,” Nkwalase added.
In a separate incident, Thapelo Mnisi was granted R2 000 bail after sending a bomb threat to Eskom COO, Jan Oberholzer in May.
Mnisi, 27, from KwaGuqa is the chairperson of the local EFF branch in Witbank and faces a charge of contravening the South African Explosives Act 15 of 2003.
He was arrested by the Hawks on Friday.
The case against him has been postponed until January 17, 2023.