Criminal elements have taken hold of South Africa’s state-owned entities, with Eskom no different. The national power utility has announced that a suspect linked to a bomb threat directed at the company’s chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, has been arrested. In May, Oberholzer received a bomb threat from an unknown cellphone number and Eskom’s internal security investigations team immediately asked the police to investigate. It was established that the suspect used an unregistered SIM card to send the threatening message – and he was traced and arrested by the SAPS in the Vosman area at eMalahleni, Mpumalanga on Friday. “The targeting of Eskom executives and employees who are focused and hard at work during these difficult times is very disturbing. Such acts of criminality are malicious, and Eskom takes them seriously,” said Advocate Karen Pillay, general manager of security at the utility. This is not the first case of an employee being threatened, all this taking place as rolling blackouts continue to plague the country, halting economic growth and limiting the average South Africa’s access to a stable supply of electricity. This article was first published on Daily Friend – Asime Nyide
Bomb threat against Eskom COO
Eskom has announced that a suspect linked to a bomb threat directed at the company’s chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer has been arrested.
A threat was made in May 2022 from an unknown cellphone number. According to the company’s internal Security Investigations team and the South African Police Service (SAPS), the suspect used an unregistered sim card to send the message.
On Friday the Hawks contracted investigations from Bidvest Protea Coin, traced and then arrested a 27-year-old male suspect in the Vosman area in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.
‘The targeting of Eskom executives and employees who are focused and hard at work during these difficult times is very disturbing. Such acts of criminality are malicious, and Eskom takes them seriously’, said Advocate Karen Pillay, the general manager of security at Eskom.
‘This nature and level of threats, therefore, demand that they focus on their safety and that of their families instead, distracting them from the critical task their jobs demand of them.’
This is not the first case of an employee being threatened, according to the advocate.
Last month, the utility also approached the Hawks to investigate several high-profile incidents including the theft of coal, diesel, and cables; bomb threats; fraud and corruption; sabotage and a wide range of other issues.
On Wednesday Eskom announced the arrest of a maintenance worker who sabotaged a key unit at Camden power station. The suspect was employed by a third-party maintenance company. He intentionally removed a bearing oil drain plug, causing oil burners to trip repeatedly.
When questioned, the perpetrator said that he did so in order that his employer could be awarded additional maintenance and repair jobs at the station.
See also
- COO Oberholzer warns of another 18 months of Eskom outages
- Eskom’s much-needed clean-up begins as 21 execs reduced to 9
- A minute to midnight for Eskom
