An employee of State-owned Eskom and a service provider to the utility last week appeared in the Hendrina Magistrate Court, in Mpumalanga, on charges of fraud, with each granted bail of R30 000.

It is alleged that, between January and April last year, the service provider supplied five valve stems – stolen from the Hendrina power station’s warehouse with the assistance of the Eskom employee – to the power station.

An internal investigation had found that the Eskom employee had allegedly misused company resources without authorisation for their own personal gain and also falsified documents as the end-user.

Eskom said it suffered a financial loss of R667 500 because of this criminal activity.

The suspects will make their next appearance at the Middelburg Regional Court on July 29.

“Eskom strongly condemns any fraudulent activity in its business operations and will not tolerate such behaviour. Our internal security investigations team will continue collaborating with the South African Police Service in ensuring that those who enrich themselves at Eskom’s expense are held accountable,” Eskom security acting GM Botse Sikhwitshi said on July 9.