On July 23, during Operation O kae Molao, the City of Ekurhuleni disconnected and confiscated more than 12 tons of illegal electrical cables at Vusumuzi Section.
An affected resident, Amanda Makhoba, said she was emotionally disturbed by the horrible way they were woken up by the team disconnecting the cables.
“In the early hours we had people kicking on our doors and threatening to break down our doors if we did not open. We were harassed by male personnel uncovering us from our beds despite us being undressed,” said Makhoba.
She said if this kind of operation will continue, the City of Ekurhuleni should respect residents’ right to privacy and collect their cables from outside without kicking residents’ doors down.
“They must consult with the community before forcing their way into our houses,” Makhoba added.
Another angry resident, Sindiwe Danisa, confirmed the horrible invasion saying people claiming to be police forcefully entered her house while she was taking a bath and preparing to take children to school.
“We were invaded in the early hours while many people were preparing to go to work which is disrespectful to human dignity.
“Now that the electricity is cut off we cannot cook for our children and many haven’t bathed the whole day.
“Instead of harassing us, the City of Ekurhuleni needs to electrify every household. Illegal connections does not mean that we don’t want to buy electricity but the infrastructure is damaged and dysfunctional and they must fix it,” said an angry Danisa.
The City of Ekurhuleni’s divisional head in communication and media relations Nhlanhla Cebekhulu said Operation O kae Molao aimed to root out illegal electricity connections and the tempering that has caused many power supply interruptions across the City due to overloaded grid in affected areas.
This tempering results in damage to electricity supply infrastructure, such as transformers, and leads to frustrations from citizens who have to go for lengthy periods without power supply.
Replacing a damaged transformer or power distribution lines are a costly and lengthy process.
The operation to remove illegal connections in the area started at 4am and last until 11am.
“A team of more than 200 personnel, comprising of City officials, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD), SAPS and private security formed part of the operation,” said Cebekhulu.
Cebekhulu explained that the connections were removed from the Vusumuzi and Ehlanzeni Hostels, Vusumuzi informal settlement and surrounding areas.
“The City of Ekurhuleni loses about R800-million per year in electricity theft, in addition to losses related to damage to critical electricity distribution infrastructure.
“The City has intensified the electricity disconnection operations in recent months.
“Therefore the City is determined to fight electricity theft incessantly.”
