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Businesses responsible for bulk of electricity theft – Eskom

17th May 2013

By: Sashnee Moodley

Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

  

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The largest volume of electricity lost as a result of theft in South Africa occurs in the business and commercial sectors and not in residential areas.

This is according to State-owned power utility Eskom’s Energy Losses Management Programme (ELP) national project sponsor, Maboe Maphaka, who says meter audits undertaken since the launch of the Operation Khanyisa campaign in 2010 have shown that it is a misconception that the bulk of electricity theft occurs in residential areas, predominantly townships and informal settlements.

The social mobilisation campaign – a partnership comprising Eskom, Proudly South African, Business Against Crime South Africa, the South African Local Government Association, Business Unity South Africa and Primedia Crime Line – aims to involve the public in the effort to curb electricity theft.

“About 60% of total energy theft volumes in South Africa, in Eskom’s supply areas, take place in the business, indus- trial, commercial and agricultural sectors. However, based on our campaign, we will continue to focus on residential areas, as electricity theft remains both a revenue loss and a safety problem in these areas. We will continue to ensure that connections are safe by removing any illegal connections, while simultaneously dealing with those who are selling prepaid electricity ille- gally,” Maphaka says.

The audits in the business and commercial environments will be intensified, with emphasis on both revenue recovery and criminal prosecutions.

During the 2011/12 financial year, Eskom reported a total energy loss of about 14 000 GWh within its distribution networks.

Of that, between 25% and 40%, or 3 500 GWh and 5 600 GWh, can be attributed to theft.

The remaining losses, between 60% and 75%, were technical losses, which naturally occur when electrical energy is transferred from one point to another, or in the transformation from one voltage to another. This is generally dissipated in the form of heat.

Maphaka says since the imple- mentation of the ELP in 2006, Eskom is revealing more and more meter tampering and bypassing cases involving business customers, some of whom either plead ignorance or become defensive when approached about electricity theft.

Eskom says it is working hard to ensure that the metering installations are protected and that early detection systems are in place so that even when the security is compromised, it can be quickly detected and dealt with before the loss is out of control.

“While we have seen an increase in the rate of meter tampering and bypassing, we hope that, once the perpetrators have been prosecuted, it will result in a decline.

“We are pleading with South Africans to work with us to ensure that electricity theft does not continue. Through Operation Khanyisa, we are also working closely with law enforcement to ensure that these cases can be speedily resolved in court,” he states.

Meanwhile, he notes that some businesses and residential users state that meter tampering and bypassing take place because electricity is unaffordable.

Maphaka says customers can legally reduce the electricity consumption by implementing energy efficient processes.

“Eskom, through its demand management programmes is more than willing to assist customers in becoming more energy efficient to reduce their electricity bills, while contributing positively to the environment,” he says.

Further, Maphaka points out that residential users can also apply to municipalities to be placed on the indigent register. If they qualify, they may receive free basic services, such as electricity.

To highlight its efforts, Operation Khanyisa launched a comprehensive outdoor campaign in February 2012. This year, the campaign will continue with the outdoor and print media campaigns while also focusing on using the digi- tal arena, such as radio and television, as well as social media, to raise awareness on the issue of electricity theft.

Eskom has begun flighting test advertisements on radio and is planning additional advertisements on national television, which will be flighted in the next few months.

Maphaka says Eskom urges the country to understand that electricity theft is a national problem and that if Eskom and municipalities continue to lose revenue in this manner, the rest of the paying customers will be burdened even more, which is why South Africans must all unite against electricity theft in whatever form it occurs.

“We call upon on all South Africans to report electricity theft wherever it happens, so that appropriate action can be taken,” he appeals.

Meanwhile, since the launch of Operation Khanyisa through Crimeline, the public response has been positive, as the cam- paign has resulted in more than 6 000 tip-offs of electricity theft to date.

“Thank you, South Africa, for such a positive response,” says Maphaka.

He adds that the tip-offs are continuously flowing through and roughly half of them fall under Eskom’s supply areas, while the other half fall under municipalities’ supply areas.

However, he admits that, owing to the overwhelming response, there was a backlog in dealing with the tip-offs at the beginning. Now Eskom has put processes in place to deal with the tip-offs as they come in to improve the response time.

The power utility uses its internal systems to send work orders to its related departments, which will dispatch Eskom officials to the areas indicated in the tip- offs.

Maphaka says that officials have up to 11 days to respond to a tip-off and report the outcome of their investigation. Tip-offs that have not been investigated within 11 days are escalated.

“Although South Africans are coming to the party by reporting electricity theft, sometimes the information provided is not adequate for our technicians to find the perpetrators. So, we appeal to South Africans to continue reporting cases of electricity theft, but give as much information as possible in regard to the town, street name and house number, as well as whatever description might assist our technicians when following up on the tip-offs,” he concludes.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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