Eskom Group Chief Executive André de Ruyter says theft and vandalism remain major challenges in the power utility’s efforts to ensure reliable and uninterrupted electricity supply.
Eskom has embarked on a communications drive to educate the public about illegal connections, the load reduction drive and other issues impacting the national power grid.
The video below is on Eskom’s quarterly state of the system briefing:
De Ruyter briefed the media in Johannesburg on Eskom’s overall performance during which he stressed that illegal activities cost the power utility billions of rand.
“On the distribution side of our business, we are concerned that there [are] continued illegal activities that affect our grid. At present we are losing about R2.5 billion a year due to electricity theft, illegal connections and meter tampering.”
“Given the constraints of Eskom’s financial statements, this is not a loss that we can accommodate. We have therefore decided to implement load reduction during peak hours in order to protect our assets,” explains De Ruyter.
