Report and stop illegal connections – Eskom
“Eskom will continue to engage with councilors in all affected areas to deal adequately with these issues."
Eskom is pleading with communities to stop illegal electricity connections, meter tampering and report illegal connections.
The power utility said it was experiencing an increasing number of equipment failures in some areas especially in Gauteng.
“This is primarily due to illegal connections leading to overloading which results in failure of transformers and mini-substations.”
It said this was due to meter tampering, electricity theft and vandalism of infrastructure.
“Increased equipment failure has a significant negative impact on our operations, finances and safety of our employees and the public.”
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Eskom said it had taken a decision that it would not restore power to areas that have repeated failures due to illegal connections, meter tampering and bypassing.
The power utility will only restore supply to legal and paying customers in the areas, on condition that the community allows safe access to Eskom staff to conduct audits and remove illegal connections.
“If we do not conduct the audits, we run the risk of continued failures without dealing with the root cause,” it said.
“In some areas, Eskom technicians have not been allowed to conduct these audits, which result in repeated failures of equipment making power restoration a wasteful exercise.”
This decision comes after extensive customer and various stakeholder engagements across Gauteng aimed at resolving issues related to electricity services were held.
A meeting was recently held at Tshwane House between the representatives of the power utility and community leaders in Winterveldt, who are still fighting for the restoration of power supply to their communities.
“Eskom will continue to engage with councillors in all affected areas to deal adequately with these issues,” said Group Executive for Distribution Monde Bala.
“Furthermore, Eskom would like to affirm its commitment to collaborate and engage with various communities to find solutions so that we can resume our services. I thank and applaud paying customers for their continued commitment to paying for the services that they use.”
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The Eskom crime line for reporting is 0800-11-27-22.
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