Load reduction triggered by Eskom's R2.5 billion loss to theft
Cable thieves, illegal power connections and metre tampering cost Eskom some R2.5 billion a year, according to CEO Andre de Ruyter.
De Ruyter says this is why they've had to implement load reduction to save and reduce damage to infrastructure.
He updated the media on Thursday morning, on the utility's business operations over the past few months.
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De Ruyter says since 2015, Eskom's been hit by 1 458 incidents of cable theft a year.
"Given the constrained state of the financial statements, you will understate that is not a loss that we can accommodate.
"We have therefore decided to implement load reduction during peak hours where illegal connections cause our local distribution grids to be overloaded - creating a risk of fires and explosions at our distribution transformers.
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"In order to protect our assets. This is a step that we have had to take."
De Ruyter says municipalities owe Eskom billions in unpaid bills.
"It's clear that municipal debt for electricity sales still poses a major challenge. At the end of August 2020, the arrears debt by the municipalities was at R31.4billion. Again a very large number which is clearly not sustainable."
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