Illegal connections on Agnes Road persists and affects residents in Bloubosrand.
Residents of Kya Sand Informal Settlement tampered with the City Power grid on Agnes Road leaving many residents without power for an average of nine hours every night.
Despite City Power’s efforts to disconnect illegal connections, the culprits continue to reconnect.
Affected residents staged a sit-in at Randburg Depot on 28 June, a move that forced City Power to disconnect the cables again.
The outages had been a regular occurrence for the past three months. Since April this year, residents who are paying for the service are left in the dark while those who are not paying are enjoying the free service.
Ward 96 Councillor Matome Mafokwane said they were left with no choice but to stage a sit-in at the depot in order to highlight the problem.
“City Power has the authority to report the illegal connections to the police since it is their property,” he said.
He further explained that as the councillor he could not open a case, and even residents do not have the jurisdiction to do so. “The City Power’s infrastructure is the property of the City and they should ensure that those perpetrators are arrested,” he explained.
City Power spokesperson Yumna Sheik said the entity commissioned the technicians and the cables were disconnected on the evening of 29 June.
“City Power’s infrastructure is often a target of vandalism and theft, and the vulnerability of its expansive network of street light poles is also a source of illegal connections,” she said.
She further explained that the entity contends, on a daily basis, with unscrupulous individuals who offer illegal connection services in poorer communities. These individuals have turned this activity into an entrepreneurial venture.
“Illegal connections cause overloading and tripping of the network – both of them result in outages that affect all customers including the honest and paying customers,” she said.
Details: City Power, 011 490 7553 or 0800 003 251; Ward 96 Councillor Matome Mafokwane, 084 854 4950.
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