Fochville farm owner busted for illegal electricity sale
Eskom says a farm owner in the Fochville area in Gauteng is in custody for allegedly supplying hundreds of homes in informal settlements with illegal power.
Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says a joint stakeholder investigation led to the discovery of a large-scale illegal operation on the heavily guarded farm in Leeupoort near Fochville.
“Intelligence investigations uncovered that stolen electrical equipment was being used to supply electricity illegally to nearby informal settlements in exchange for payment.
“Over 600 informal households were illegally connected to electricity provided by the farmer. This operation has led to an estimated financial loss of more than R6.6 million for Eskom,” Mokoena said.
Mokoena says during the raid, authorities recovered critical infrastructure, including two transformers (2x100kVA and 1x50kVA) and 150-meter boxes belonging to City Power and Eskom.
The farm owner has since been charged with tampering with essential infrastructure and malicious damage to property, including illegal redistribution and resale of electricity.
According to Mokoena, Eskom has been investigating the case since 2018 with the property being disconnected multiple times.
“However, the farmer repeatedly reconnected the power supply,” adds Moekoena.
Mokoena says the farm owner made his first appearance in court on Wednesday and the matter was postponed to 11 December for a bail hearing.
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