South African authorities have conducted raids across five provinces to break up a coal-smuggling syndicate they blamed for stealing more than $26 million in coal, degrading state-owned power plants and contributing to an electricity crisis.
The gang diverted trucks carrying high-grade coal to power stations, stealing the coal, and replacing it with sub-standard product, the South African Revenue Service said in a statement on Thursday.
“The low-grade coal damages the infrastructure at the Eskom power stations, which is a major factor in crippling the power utility’s ability to generate electricity for the South African grid,” it said.
No arrests yet
Law enforcement agencies working with the South African Revenue Service carried out the search and seizure operations in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Limpopo provinces.
No arrests have been made yet, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said.
South Africa is grappling with a power crisis that has resulted in scheduled rolling blackouts because its coal-fired stations are not generating enough electricity for the country's 62 million people.
The state-owned power utility, Eskom, produces about 95% of South Africa's electricity.
The blackouts have been largely blamed on years of corruption and mismanagement at Eskom, but authorities have said that suspected organized crime syndicates operating for years around Eskom's power station supply chains are to blame.
Blackouts
South Africa experienced its worst blackouts ever at the start of the year, when homes and businesses went without electricity for more than eight hours a day.
The electricity is usually cut off in two-hour blocks spread out over the day.
The scheduled power cuts have been politically problematic for the ruling African National Congress party, which has been in government since the end of apartheid in 1994 and has been largely blamed for the problems at Eskom and other state-owned entities.
South Africa has national elections next year, when the power crisis is expected to be a key issue for voters.
