Cape Town - Power utility Eskom says two security guards hired to protect the Port Rex power station in East London were arrested for stealing nearly 6000 litres of diesel on Monday.
The guards, who are employed by an Eskom contractor, were arrested while on duty at the power station for stealing diesel valued at about over R145 000.
Eskom’s general manager for security, advocate Karen Pillay, said it was established through an internal probe that the suspects allowed allowed a vehicle to collect the diesel from the site during their night shift.
Pillay said that the internal investigations supported by the Bidvest Protea Coin Investigation Team and SAPS led to the arrest of the two security guards a few days after Eskom laid criminal charges for the theft of diesel incidents. The two suspects will appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on November 30.
“It is appalling that the individuals entrusted with the responsibilities of safeguarding our infrastructure resort to such acts of malfeasance.
“These arrests are another significant step in our fight against crime in Eskom, and we shall continue in our pursuit to ensure that the perpetrators face the full might of the law,” Pillay said.
Pillay said that investigations were ongoing to identify other suspects, and the outcome would determine further actions to be taken against the contracted security company, including but not limited to loss recovery.
“In our efforts to clean out the organisation, we shall ensure that guarding companies contracted to Eskom toe the line in screening their personnel and delivering services of a high standard.
“The persistent and excellent work by the Eskom security team, Bidvest Protea Coin Investigation Team and the SAPS, who are all working tirelessly to identify and disrupt the criminal networks, are an indication of our commitment to dealing with criminality in Eskom,” Pillay said.
She also said that they would provide the required support to the authorities to ensure that the suspects were successfully prosecuted and that the maximum permissible sanction was meted out.
Pillay urged the public to report information regarding theft of coal, fuel, oil and diesel to the Eskom Crime Line at 0800 11 27 2
IOL