A sustainable approach in curbing electricity theft. It defines a desired destination where inequality and unemployment are reduced and poverty is eliminated so that all south africans can attain a decent standard of living. The largest volume of electricity lost as a result of theft in south africa occurs in the business and commercial sectors and not in residential areas. Abstract in this paper, the researchers argue that unravelling perceptions and attitudes of relevant employees towards theft and vandalism is critical to stemming electric cable theft. Kelsey jack and grant smith january 2015 much of the coming growth in energy demand is expected to come from the developing world wolfram, shelef and gertler 2012. Issues run deep in the fight against electricity theft. Electricity theft how to lodge a complaint against ongoing. South africa has significant potential to save money through energy efficiency and to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix. Property24, south africas largest property search portal, is. Future of energy and power utilities in africa 2 about the authors marius oosthuizen marius is a member of faculty at the gordon institute of business science gibs, at the university of pretoria. Critical analysis of the right to access electricity for the. The political significance of popular illegalties in postapartheid. It is increasingly common to find that electricity meters prepaid or conventional are bypassed by the occupants of properties, be they commercial or residential, and high or low income. Electricity tariffs, power outages and firm performance.
Regulations applied to electricity systems for the purpose of public safety are mostly expressed in general. Informal electrification in south africa experience, opportunities and challenges trevor gaunt malcolm salida roger macfarlane sivuyile maboda yachika reddy. According to the annual emerging markets smart grid. How theft can become institutionalized as part of the political. The palm ridge regional court, on 12 december 2016, ruled in favour of eskom, handing down a guilty verdict on four accused, including a mother and son duo aged 56 and 23 respectively. Soweto, south africa 6tons of spiderweb cable used. Collaborative solutions to address vandalism and theft of. Electricity theft in south africa is an ongoing challenge and takes many forms.
An alternative technique for the detection and mitigation of electricity. Guide to prosecuting electricity theft in south africa. Electricity theft in south africa is out of control. Some south african municipal distributors have been grappling with the issue of providing electricity to. In this article, electricity theft is defined and various types of theft are described. Electricity theft and nonpayment impact on the sa generation capacity crisis by chris yelland ceng, managing editor, ee publishers this article argues that the impact of electricity theft and nonpayment in south africa on the national electricity demand is about 3600 mw, which is. Zero tolerance on cable theft south africa is facing a major problem with copper theft and has a negative impact on all citizens. School of public leadership, and the centre for renewable and sustainable energy studies, stellenbosch university, stellenbosch, south africa b. South africas institutions of municipal governance are also institutions of electricity distribution meaning that in the case of urban municipalities in particular, electricity revenue and city financial survival are closely linked janisch et al. Theft of electricity contributes to high nontechnical losses on the formal networks. Affects the financial viability of electricity utilities and the tariffs for formal customers.
Background paper reducing losses in the power sector. Dangerous illegal electricity connections in south africa photo by eskom illegal electricity connection above a building. South africa 16 the deputy minister of energy inspects electrification project in namakgale 17 south africa international renewable energy conference 18 state of the nation address extracts by his excellency jacob g zuma on 12 february 2015 20 south africas energy situation 23 new shipping vessels hired for offshore support duty 24 top 20. Additional information on south africa on energypedia. He teaches scenario planning and strategic foresight and conducts research on the future of business in south africa, africa and brics.
Read electricity generated and available for distribution article 3. Theft of electricity is the criminal practice of stealing electrical power. Businesses responsible for bulk of electricity theft eskom. By p maseema, city of tshwane cable theft is a major problem in south africa with a huge impact on the overall economy. They find that simpler and less costly electricity connection processes are associated with better firm performance in particular in industries with high electricity needs.
Nontechnical losses are caused by actions external to the power system and consist primarily of electricity theft, nonpayment by customers, and errors in accounting and recordkeeping. South africa is not excluded from this phenomenon, with electricity theft contributing to 10% of its total losses, highlighting its contribution of. Sep 16, 2016 eskom issues warning to electricity thieves. Pdf cable theft and vandalism by employees of south africa. It is a crime and is punishable by fines andor incarnation. Jun 27, 2017 the south african energy landscape has recently witnessed a number of announcements, some of the increases and some of the decreases on electricity theft. Power outages caused by cable theft affect all electricity depend the city of tshwane metropolitan municipality forms the local government of the northern gauteng province, south africa, and includes the city of pretoria. Recent african efforts, such as those in south africa, kenya, morocco and mozambique, have shown that many of the problems and their solutions are shared with other regions and also that several additional challenges can be present in africa that need to be solved in order to reach sustainability.
It belongs to the nontechnical losses according to the annual emerging markets smart grid. Pdf a significant source of nontechnical loss contribution is directly related to electricity theft by virtue of illegal connections. The south african local government association salga, acoustic deterrent systems ads, sasol and cosatu made an appearance before the portfolio committee on water and sanitation regarding solutions to address vandalism and the theft of water infrastructure. South africa is a signatory to the paris agreement on climate change and has ratified the agreement. Electricity theft is a major issue in south africa and the different kinds of the crimes are perpetrated by people from all works of life. This dissertation focuses on the phenomenon of copper cable theft within the gauteng province of south africa. Distribution system an electricity network with assets operated at a nominal voltage of 2kv or less and subsequently a distributor is defined as a legal entity that owns, operates or distributes electricity through a distribution system. Electricity theft is a complex phenomenon with many facets. Eskom is losing billions each year to this crime, and many people are getting electrocuted because of unsafe wires in areas where this theft. Theft of electricity is the criminal practice of stealing electricity. It is a crime and is punishable by fines andor incarceration. An analysis using the bounds testing approach to integration 2009 10, energy policy. How theft can become institutionalized as part of the political, economic and managerial culture of governance will be noted. Electricity is one of the core elements of a decent standard of living.
The energy sector contributes close to 80% towards the countrys total greenhouse gas. It is difficult to quantify the electricity revenue lost to illegal connections, unbilled consumption, and nonpayment of power consumed. Electricity theft affects the financial status of the producer of electricity which is eskom. To recover the money that is lost by the power utility due to electricity theft, including illegal connections, meter tampering and bypassing and the selling of illegal prepaid vouchers, eskom is forced to increase the price of electricity, which ultimately affects legal electricity users in the form of increased tariffs. A theoretical explanation and research agenda article pdf available may 2014 with 1,670 reads how we. Who is the newly elected president of united states. Cheaper electricity with renewable energy 1 foreword it was with a great deal of expectancy and excitement that wwf south africa organised our first national renewable energy conference. Critical analysis of the right to access electricity for.
This is how people steal electricity in south africa. Journal of international commerce and economics 2 introduction subsaharan africa ssa has a lower supply of electricity than any other region in the world, as shown by satellite images depicting the regions relative lack of nighttime lights image 1. Illegal connections are one example of electricity theft and typically involves running a cable from an eskom pylon to a home, office, or. In many systems the amount of theft is small 12% in terms of the electricity generated. Eskom issues warning to electricity thieves south africa news. Distribution charges the grouping of the use of the distribution system duos charges and the. Jun 01, 2015 electricity theft in south africa is out of control. Electricity theft and nonpayment impact on the sa generation capacity crisis by chris yelland ceng, managing editor, ee publishers this article argues that the impact of electricity theft and nonpayment in south africa on the national electricity demand is about 3600 mw, which is equivalent to the output of a major coalfired. In this article, hritik sharma discusses how to lodge a complaint against electricity theft.
Theproblem an electric power system can never be 100% secure from theft. Efficient utilization and conservation of energy is the major priority of all power utilities, transmitting the generated power to customer loads through transmission and distribution systems. By thobile mbanjwa a dissertation submitted in fulfilment. The case study of kwaximba in ethekwini, kwazulunatal by thobile mbanjwa 212506428 a dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of.
Pdf electricity theft is the difference between the power supplied and users consumption, in the distribution system. The triadfactor in preventing electricity theft and energy losses. The estimated loss due to copper theft is approximately r5 billion per year with ethekwini electricity contributing r60 million to that loss. Issues run deep in the fight against electricity theft ee. Eskom, south africas stateowned power utility, is looking to drastically increase electricity tariffs in an attempt to offset dismal financial losses incurred during the 201819 financial year. Prepaid metering and electricity expenditures in south africa b.
The impact of nontechnical losses southern africa revenue. Jan 14, 2015 this is how people steal electricity in south africa. Not only are there many incidences of residents in unelectrified areas stealing power through illegal connections, but a significant number of households and businesses with formal reticulation. Indicators for governance and electricity theft south africa indicator definition south africa liability the political process, political rights mediumhigh. Electricity theft can be in the form of fraud meter tampering, stealing illegal connections, billing. The four, who collectively faced over 36 000 charges related to electricity theft, were found guilty on 16 451 counts. Using technology alone to find a solution is not adequate because crime is a socioeconomic challenge and not a technical problem. To explore and to describe the extent and the impact of copper cable theft. The researchers draw on the reasoned action theory tra and the. In recent years, south africas electricity sector has seen the introduction of new actors and technologies, including the prosumer producerconsumer of electricity and smallscale embedded generation from rooftop solar photovoltaics. South africa is not excluded from this phenomenon, with electricity theft contributing to 10% of its total losses, highlighting its contribution of nontechnical losses to. Cable theft and vandalism by employees of south africas electricity utility companies.
Total welfare impact of fuel price increases per consumption quintile 17 appendix tble a table 1. The impact this phenomenon has is not only limited. How to deal with electricity theft guest experts, advice. The international scope and trends of theft will be examined. Pdf illegal connections in south african power utilitiesis it a.
Section 51 of electricity act, 2003 as amended by electricity amendment act, 2007, theft of electricity is defined as, whoever dishonestly. Using technologies, standards and approaches imported from the developed world, as was done initially in south africa, would have constrained such access significantly. Oct 31, 20 how to deal with electricity theft 31 oct 20 it is increasingly common to find that electricity meters prepaid or conventional are bypassed by the occupants of properties, be they commercial or residential, and high or low income. By thobile mbanjwa a dissertation submitted in fulfilment of. South africas national development plan ndp 2030 offers a longterm plan for the country. A sustainable approach in curbing electricity theft energy. The south african energy landscape has recently witnessed a number of announcements, some of the increases and some of the decreases on electricity theft. This paper argues that the distribution of electricity represents an important yet neglected aspect of the politics of energy transitions. Not only are there many incidences of residents in unelectrified areas stealing power through illegal connections, but a significant number of households and businesses with formal reticulation are also taking what they can without paying for it. Eskom 2016 reported in the operation khanyisa document that they lost an amount of about r15. Critical analysis of the right to access electricity. Mar 04, 2015 by xavier lemaire with the samset supporting african municipalities in sustainable energy transitions project informal settlements constitute a major part of african cities. An analysis using the bounds testing approach to integration 2009 10, energy policy vol 37p 41674175.
Pdf cable theft and vandalism by employees of south. Electricity theft is the difference between the power supplied and users consumption, in the distribution system. However, in some jurisdictions of subsaharan africa and south asia, losses incurred through stealing outstretch 50 percent. Electricity theft and illegal connection by ground surface conductors is a pervasive problem in south africa. Eskom is losing billions each year to this crime, and many people are getting electrocuted because of unsafe wires in areas where this theft takes place. Eskom has long warned of the dangers of illegal electricity connections, but the potentially fatal consequences of power theft were brought into stark relief by recent reports of the death of princess ntuli. What is the name of the antielectricity theft campaign launched by eskom. Electricity theft is a serious challenge in south africa, such as. There are five primary objectives in this research. Nontechnical losses nonspecialized losses which are caused by the activities. The country generates 93 percent of its electricity from coal, as a result of which it is one of the 15 largest emitters of co2 worldwide. The conference was attended by some of the countrys leading experts in the field, as well as by senior representatives of government, including the minister.
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