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A farmer in the Free State’s region of Steunmekaar and Petrusburg was slapped with a hefty sentence, which include a payment to Eskom for losses suffered worth R1.58 million in addition to a five-year jail sentence. The Bloemfontein Regional Court sentenced Jan Albert van der Merwe (46) on Friday, 8 March.
Van der Merwe faced 17 charges against him, including contravention of the Criminal Matters Amendment Act relating to damage to essential infrastructure and theft in meter tampering. Van der Merwe’s conviction and sentencing followed the outcomes of the investigations by Eskom and the Bloemfontein Hawks’ Crime Investigation team. The power supplier reported the matter to the Hawks upon finding wrongdoing by the farmer.
Lt Col. Zweli Mohobeleli, provincial spokesperson of the Hawks, said Van der Merwe was ordered to immediately pay R50 000 to the power supplier and pay calculated losses worth R1.58 million by 10 March. He said the five-year sentence was suspended for the same period under the condition that Van der Merwe is not found guilty of a similar crime. Mohobeleli said an Eskom audit revealed the entity suffered losses worth R1.9 million due to tampering with electricity meters on several premises and illegal connections.
“The convicted electricity thief was found to have tampered with an electricity box to his farm between 2017 and 2019. This he did to evade or reduce his electricity bill,” said Mohobeleli. Eskom investigators immediately started probing the matter, discovering tampered meters and illegal connections made by Van der Merwe.
Through his legal representative, Elna de Jager, Van der Merwe entered a plea with the state. The basis plea by Van der Merwe was that the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to sustain his family and 150 employees, in addition to the devastating death of his father in 2011.
He initially accepted his wrongdoing and paid an amount of R800 000 for his misdeeds. In terms of section 103 (1)(h), the Firearms Control Act, Van der Merwe was not found unfit to possess a firearm.
Brig. Sophie Hange, acting provincial head of the Hawks, has applauded the investigators for a thorough job that resulted in this outcome.
