City Power concerned about illegal connections, grid strained
The entity spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, said these include meter bypassing and illegal connections to the grid, among many others.
“City Power is confronted with multiple forms of illegal connections. This involves direct connections to our infrastructure supply points, which bypass all safety mechanisms and pose serious risks to both communities and infrastructure”.
These were the words of City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena responding to a Midrand Reporter media query.
Mangena was contacted by the paper after a cow was electrocuted and died in Glen Austin, Midrand, on December 1.
Read more: City Power’s Midrand Service Delivery Centre to visit Mayibuye
Mangena said another common practice was meter bypassing, where unauthorised technicians tamper with meters to stop vending or under-record consumption.
“This is often detected through unusually low vending patterns that indicate possible tampering. Hijacked buildings, and or houses present a further major challenge.
These buildings or homes are frequently connected illegally to the grid, despite having no compliant internal reticulation and not being legally supplied by City Power. This significantly complicates enforcement efforts and exposes occupants to severe safety hazards,” said Mangena.
He said in informal settlements, the majority of residents are connected to the grid illegally, intensifying the strain on the network.
Also read: City Power traces outage in Mayibuye and Rabie Ridge to faulty transformers
This is because there are currently an estimated 380 informal settlements across the city, along with numerous hijacked buildings or houses, that are illegally connected to the City Power electricity network, according to Mangena.
“This figure continues to rise as the electricity demand has significantly outstripped the supply of formal housing. As a result, many residents resort to unauthorised and unsafe electricity connections.”
Mangena concluded that these activities contribute to substation overloading, equipment explosions, power outages, network instability, and significant revenue losses.
Follow us on our WhatsApp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates!
