President Cyril Ramaphosa has deployed members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) at several Eskom power stations.
The embattled power utility Eskom confirmed the reports that members of the SANDF have been deployed to some of its power stations.
“Eskom can confirm that the SANDF is being deployed at Eskom. Eskom has received deployments at four sites this afternoon, Majuba, Camden, Grootveli and Tutuka power stations,” said the power utility.
This comes at the time the country was affected by constant power cuts with stage 6 load shedding being implemented by the power utility.
The exact nature of the deployment is not yet known, with Eskom redirecting all queries to the presidency. According to reports from News24, the army was deployed to protect the power stations from theft of critical equipment and infrastructure.
Theft and sabotage have cost Eskom billions of rands in damages and losses at a time when the power utility- and the country- can ill-afford it.
The government and Eskom top officials have over the last few months been complaining about sabotage at its power plants and the supply of sub-standard coal by contractors.
Presenting an operational update to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in October, Eskom revealed that its works with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) pointed to criminal syndicates operating within its supply chain, including acts of sabotage.
Eskom has made several arrests in recent months related to the theft of coal, diesel and one case of active sabotage.
News of the SANDF deployment comes just a day after ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday told the party delegates at the 55th annual ANC Elective Conference that government is implementing “urgent measures” to curb power cuts.
Source: News24, Business Day, IOL, The Citizen, Business Tech, image from Twitter: @Nhleiks5