The City of Johannesburg has intensified efforts to dismantle criminal networks behind illegal electricity connections that disrupt supply to paying residents.

An operation in the Kanana informal settlement and Klipfontein View led to the recovery of two transformers valued at R2m and one tonne of illegal cables worth R500 000.

City Power conducted the emergency cut-off operation after the Midrand Service Delivery Centre requested urgent intervention.

Read more: Frustrated residents demand permanent solutions from City Power after repeated outages

According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, illegal connections in these areas repeatedly interrupted 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 (JMPD), 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.

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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.”

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.

Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero said the city will not allow criminal activity to compromise essential services.

“Working with SAPS and JMPD, we will continue to protect our electricity infrastructure, enforce the law and ensure a reliable supply for residents who pay for their electricity,” said Morero.

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