Electricity theft a reality in the East
‘It does seem to be a growing phenomenon among people who can afford utilities but rather feel the need to steal it.”
Illegal electricity connections are a reality in the affluent suburbs east of Pretoria, according to a local councillor.
Shaun Wilkinson said most were by people who could afford electricity.
“Both business and residential areas,” he said. adding that three were reported in the past two weeks in Faerie Glen.
Ward 85 councillor Jacqui Uys said in one case the meter had been tampered with to read zero for years.
“This is a very big concern as it does seem as if it is becoming a phenomenon among people who can pay for utilities but rather feel the need to steal it,” she said.
“This impacts the pockets of every person in the city as the unaccounted for electricity is still purchased and paid for from Eskom.”
Tshwane metro MMC for utility services Darryl Moss said businesses could be fined about R1 million for illegally connected electricity.
According to Moss, around 13 percent of the electricity purchased by the metro was lost to illegal connections and theft. This is valued at about R1 billion.
ALSO READ:
https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/168100/cable-theft-plunges-east-in-dark/
He said a homeowner could pay a R18 360 fine for the first offence and R27 763 for the second while a business could pay R540 000 for the first and R1 107 000 for the second.
He said tenants who had been cut off in Menlo Park had illegally reconnected.
Ward councillor Siobhan Muller said the tenants reconnected repeatedly even after they were caught.
Moss said illegal connections contributed to the constant power outages that plagued the east.
The network was designed as such that it would trip when its design capacity was exceeded.
Moreleta Park, Waterkloof, Groenkloof and Olympus have experienced power outages at least once a week recently.
“When illegal connections takes place it can overload the network as the original design does not cater for this extra load. This results in frequent power supply disruptions,” he said.
He said an illegal connection was any unauthorised connection which resulted in electricity usage not being metered or metered but not charged to the user.
He said the most common illegal connecting were to lamp posts on overhead lines followed by meter boxes.
He said the metro was working hard to curb illegal connections.
ALSO READ:
https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/170145/cable-theft-tuesdays-moreleta-park/
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
