The EMM’s spokesperson, Mr Samuel Modiba, said the metro is losing millions of Rand per month in illegal connections.
“This translates to losses of about R2,8-million to R4,9-million, which the metro suffers each month. This is money which could otherwise be channelled towards service delivery projects,” said Mr Modiba.
The EMM’s member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for water and energy, Clr Aubrey Nxumalo, was accompanied by the Red Ant Security Service, the SAPS and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) when he visited the Dukathole Informal Settlement near Germiston to educate residents on the financial and social costs that illegal connections have on the metro and its people.
“It is estimated that there are 14 000 illegal connections in the metro and these are causing excessive strain on the local authority’s power supply. These connections pose a danger to innocent children and community members, destroys the economy, reduces work opportunities and destroys power infrastructure,” said Mr Modiba.
Clr Nxumalo said the illegal connections have led to infrastructure damage in areas like KwaThema Ext 3, where an overhead transformer was replaced nine times in 2011.
“We want to educate the community of Ekurhuleni about the risks involved through illegal connections. At the same time, we are preparing them for a major law enforcement operation that will follow within the next few weeks, focusing on disconnecting illegal connections. We need to develop our city and we cannot afford to lose millions of Rands to illegal connections,” said Cllr Nxumalo.
He added that these educational drives will continue throughout Ekurhuleni in the next few weeks.
