Bail denied for 60 Tembisans involved in public violence after illegal connections
Tensions reached a boiling point on Tuesday and fights ensued
Fights have broken out among communities in Tembisa as illegal power connections have resulted in several power outages the past weeks.
Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago, spokesperson for the metro police, said the communities of Liliba, Mangweni, Moyeni, Ilidinga and Ndulwini sections have had several power failures due to the illegal electricity connections by residents of the nearby Madelakufa Informal Settlement.
“Tensions reached a boiling point on Tuesday last week and fights ensued, resulting in damage to property. Realising that the minor fights had the potential of escalating to a full-scale war, the police intervened,” Kgasago added.
Police, metro police and energy department personnel on Wednesday last week launched a special operation from 4am aimed at removing illegal connections and apprehending those responsible for the violence and illegal connections.
Six residents of Madelakufa responsible for the high-scale illegal power connections were arrested as well as 47 people for public violence. All the illegal connections were removed by the The City of Ekurhuleni energy department personnel and the damaged boxes fixed.
Following the special operation that commenced at 4am and ended at 10am on September 12, 61 suspects were arrested for illegal power connections, public violence and malicious damage to infrastructure. These suspects, save one, were denied bail on Friday at Tembisa Magistrate’s Court.
The operation was prompted by the fights that ensued between the Madelukufa informal settlement residents and the formal Tembisa sections residents nearby.
Fifty-three suspects charged with public violence and malicious damage to property and seven suspected kingpins of illegal connections were refused bail. The former will appear in Tembisa Magistrate’s Court on September 25 and the latter on October 2.
The City of Ekurhuleni is in the process of identifying all areas where such illegal activity is taking place which is costing the metro millions of rand annually. Once identified, similar operations will be carried out to rid the city of illegal power connections.
