The contractor admitted to intentionally removing the oil drain plug from a bearing on Thursday last week, causing oil burners to trip repeatedly, Eskom said in a statement. | News24_Business
A contractor working at Camden power station in Mpumalanga was arrested on Tuesday after being positively linked to an incident of sabotage.
The contractor admitted to intentionally removing the oil drain plug from a bearing on Thursday last week, causing oil burners to trip repeatedly, Eskom said in a statement. The worker was employed by a maintenance company working at the power station, and said his employer was promised additional maintenance and repair jobs at the power station if he carried out the task.The arrest followed"intensive investigative work by Eskom teams", the power utility said on Wednesday. While the contractor was arrested, no details were provided of Eskom employees that may have been involved in the promising of additional work.
"This malicious act caused all the oil to drain out from the bearing, thus damaging [it], which in turn prevented the mills from operating optimally," Eskom explained. The incident caused Camden Unit 4 to trip due to the mills not functioning."Intensive internal investigations led to the culprit being identified and questioned about the incident. The evidence obtained, and the confession made by the perpetrator revealed that the plug was intentionally removed to cause the trip.
Advocate Karen Pillay, general manager for security at Eskom, described the situation as"disheartening".
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
S.Africa's Eskom says maintenance work could worsen power cuts for a yearSouth Africa's struggling state power utility Eskom warned on Tuesday that planned maintenance could cause power outages lasting up to a year.
Read more »
Eskom maintenance contractor arrested for sabotageEskom says the contract worker confessed to having removed a bearing oil drain plug, causing a trip of one of the generating units at the Camden Power Station.
Read more »
Months of load shedding ahead, Eskom warnsEskom is taking its most reliable power station offline for maintenance – and it will be down for months.
Read more »
Eskom gets a new acting head of generation | The CitizenEskom on Tuesday appointed Thomas Conradie as the power utility's new acting head of generation.
Read more »
BREAKING NEWS: Rhulani Mathebula resigns from Eskom with immediate effectThe resignation is the latest in a series of high-profile departures in recent months
Read more »
Eskom changes load-shedding scheduleEskom chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer announced that the power utility would reduce load-shedding as it had replenished sufficient emergency reserves.
Read more »