In the early hours of Friday, Eskom officials at Hendrina Power Station were unable to start up unit five and upon inspection found that during the night copper bars on the unit's generator had been removed, and reactor earth bars, had also been removed.
Units two and six suffered the same fate.
Officials suspect theft, but it was unclear how any thief would be able to gain access to the Hendrina premises and have enough time to remove the cables and the reactor bars from three units.
In another incident, the incorrect oil was used for unit two at Duvha Power Station, meaning a further delay to returning the 570-megawatt unit to service.
Duvha unit two's return to service (RTS) date was nearly six months overdue, due to a series of apparent mistakes that kept delaying the completion of work at the power station.
Further mistakes
Other problems that had plagued repairs include valves being installed incorrectly, and further mistakes that had caused repeated delays.
Further incidents of sabotage at Eskom power stations thwart efforts to halt load shedding | News24
A series of incidents that Eskom suspect to be the work of saboteurs is preventing the utility from returning enough generation units to service to stop load shedding.
