A contractor that had been employed at Camden power plant, Ermelo, was arrested for sabotage of generating Unit 4 at the plant. Investigation conducted by Eskom teams discovered that the perpetrator, employed by a maintenance contractor at the plant, intentionally removed the bearing oil drain plug from the bearing, causing the oil burners to trip repeatedly.

In addition, this act of sabotage damaged the bearing, which prevented the mills from operating at nominal capacity. Unit 4 was subsequently out of commission after all mills tripped.

Eskom stated that the incident occurred on Thursday afternoon, 10 November 2022. After being questioned by Eskom, the perpetrator confessed that the act of sabotage was willful, thus ensuring that his employer would be awarded additional maintenance and repair work from the power plant.
A case had been opened with the SAPS, and according to information received, has subsequently been handed over to the Hawks for investigation.

The suspect is expected to appear before the Ermelo Magistrates Court today, 17 November 2022.

Camden power plant was also in the news last month, after the entire plant was forced to shut down after a senior technician "opened the wrong valve", contaminating the plant’s demineralised water supply. Eksom also launched a investigation into suspected sabotage.

Camden supplies 1 561MW of electricity, equivalent to 3.4% of the national grid.