Cape Town - The man who is allegedly responsible for tripping the power system and plunging South Africa into a higher stage of load shedding made his first appearance in the Ermelo Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga.
Simon Majonke Shongwe, 43, a sub-contractor for Eskom faces charges relating to tampering with essential infrastructure.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Monica Nyuswa, Shongwe made a brief appearance in the court.
“On November 10, Unit 4 at Camden Power Station tripped increasing load shedding.
“Upon investigation, it was found that someone took bearing drain plugs for the main bearing at the same unit in the shaft, overheating and tripping the generator,” Nyuswa said.
She said, as a result, Eskom suffered a loss of over R1 million.
“Eskom’s investigation led to the arrest of the accused hence his appearance in court,” Nyuswa said.
The matter against Shongwe has been postponed until Thursday for a formal bail application.
He remains in custody.
This as South Africans were told to brace themselves for six to 12 months of rolling blackouts.
In an unrelated incident, a 28-year-old man is expected to appear in the Belfast Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Thursday on charges of fraud and theft for allegedly stealing coal from Eskom.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).
The truck he was driving was sub-contracted to collect coal from the Msimbithi Coal Mine in Wonderfontein near Belfast and to then deliver it to Camden Power Station operated by Eskom in Ermelo, Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase said.
“It is alleged that the truck driver deviated from that route with the original coal worth approximately R30 000 and delivered it to an illegal coal yard on Bethal road in Vaalbank near Middleburg,” Nkwalase said.
“A rubble coal mixed with stones was allegedly loaded on the truck for delivery to Camden Power Station.”
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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