Stop illegal connections – City
THE CITY of Joburg has urged residents to stop illegally connecting electricity after a man, who was allegedly paid to connect electricity illegally, was electrocuted on Sunday.
City’s mayoral committee member for environment and infrastructure services Mpho Moerane appealed to residents yesterday to refrain from illegally connecting electricity.
Moerane’s appeal came after the death of a man at Thembelihle informal settlement in Lenasia on the weekend.
Moerane said the man who died was believed to be a foreign national from Mozambique, who was allegedly paid by residents to connect electricity illegally, in an open veld next to Lenasia extension 11. The man was declared dead by paramedics at the scene.
“We again appeal to residents to stop illegal connections because of the dangers involved, and the fact that it inconveniences the paying customers. Theft of electricity is a serious concern for us in the City of Johannesburg,” he said.
Moerane added that the city was aware of the people who received payment from residents to connect them onto the city’s grid, as was the case with this incident.
“We have engaged law enforcement agencies to follow up on some leads to ensure they are arrested,” Moerane said.
He said Thembelihle was one of the hotspots identified across the city, where illegal connections were rife. Moerane said most power outages around Lenasia extension 11 and the surrounding areas were due to, among others, overloading caused by illegal connections, including from the informal settlement.
Moerane said the City Power Revenue Protection Service would intensify operations to cut off illegal connections in these areas.
He also conducted an inspection in Kya Sands yesterday. Kya Sands is also one of the areas in the city experiencing problems of illegal connections.
In early February, a seven-yearold child from Ennerdale, died after being electrocuted from contact with exposed live wires, as a result of illegal electricity connections.
Officials from City Power subsequently went to the area in the south of Johannesburg to cut off illegal electricity connections at two informal settlements.
Alexandra residents also prevented City Power officials from removing illegal power connections near River Bank on February 18. City Power was forced to abandon the operation.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, City Power revealed that the City of Joburg had 211 informal settlements that were illegally connected to the grid.
The power utility added that this phenomenon resulted in a large increase of illegal connections and power outages to neighbouring suburbs, as well as the overloading of the power grid, which often causes substations to blow up.
According to City Power, it loses billions of rand of its revenue due to illegal connections. It also loses the infrastructure that explodes and burns as a result of overloading. Illegal connections did not only happen in informal settlements, but in upmarket suburbia as well.