EKURHULENI is losing R36 million a year due to illegal electricity connections.
This translates to losses of about R2,8 million to R4,9 million a month.
In a bid to address this huge loss, the City has embarked on a campaign to educate the communities about the adverse effects of illegal connections.
Member of the mayoral committee for water and energy, Clr Aubrey Nxumalo, accompanied by Red Ant Security Services, the police and metro police visited the Dukathole Informal Settlement in Germiston to educate residents on the financial and social costs the illegal connection trade has on the metro and its people.
It is estimated that there are 14 000 illegal connections in the City and these are causing excessive strain on the local authority’s power supply. These connections pose a danger to innocent children and community members; destroy the economy and reduce work opportunities as well as destroy power infrastructure.
“Infrastructure damage due to illegal connections is evident in areas like Kwa-Thema ext 3 where an overhead transformer was replaced nine times in 2011,” he said.
“Today we want to educate the community about 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 due to illegal connections,” Nxumalo said.
Perpetrators of illegal connection have a few weeks to get their houses in order because phase two will not only be the removal of illegally connected cables but offenders will be arrested.
