Emergency operations across the Kanana informal settlement and Klipfontein View led to the recovery of two transformers and one tonne of cables valued at approximately R2.5m.

City Power conducted the emergency cut-off operation in the areas on October 12, after the Midrand Service Delivery Centre requested urgent intervention.

Read more: City Power warns of grid constraints as Rabie Ridge outage investigated

According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, illegal connections in these areas repeatedly interrupt electricity supply to customers in Rabie Ridge extensions 1, 2, 3 and 5. Working in co-ordination with Rabie Ridge police and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, revenue protection teams moved systematically through the communities to identify, disconnect, and remove unauthorised installations that form part of an organised criminal network exploiting infrastructure.

“In Kanana, our teams discovered a 6.6kV transformer that had been placed inside a shack and connected to a large network of illegally installed cables,” said Mangena. “We removed the unauthorised cables and disconnected the supply.” Although residents claimed to have purchased the transformer, Mangena said the installation existed entirely outside any approved process or safety standard.

Continuing the search, the team followed a medium-voltage cable through the settlement until they located a pole-mounted transformer on Hlanganani Street, situated deep among residential structures where it remained exposed to further illegal taps. “We disconnected the medium-voltage fuses to secure the equipment and prevent additional unauthorised use,” Mangena explained.

“While the operation was under way, residents who had been alerted to our presence removed one transformer from a site before our teams could disconnect and recover it. This deliberate action confirms that those involved are operating as an organised network that actively seeks to maintain illegal access and evade enforcement.”

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In total, one tonne of cables, estimated to be worth approximately R500 000, and two transformers, carrying a combined estimated value of approximately R2m, were disconnected and recovered at the Kanana informal settlement.

In Klipfontein View, along Oliver Tambo and Nancy Ndamase streets, Mangena said the team found that customers had forcibly opened a mini-substation after removing the reinforced locks previously installed by City Power. “These customers have chosen not to purchase electricity through legal channels and instead connected illegally. A case has been opened with the Rabie Ridge police regarding the forced entry.”

Consequently, teams removed three breakers from the mini-substation and disconnected the illegal connections. Mangena said the scale and co-ordination of the activity demonstrated an organised criminal operation that damages infrastructure, overloads the network, and deprives compliant customers of reliable electricity.

City Power remains determined to stay on the heels of this network and will continue intensive enforcement operations to dismantle illegal connections, protect the system, and ensure that only paying customers receive supply.

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