Residents fight over electricity
It is alleged that during the fight nearby informal settlement residents retaliated by throwing stones and damaging the transformer.
A feud about illegal electricity connections has seen a Nellmapius transformer destroyed.
The destruction came after Nellmapius extension 4 residents were without power for more than three days.
Local ward councillor Thabo Ntlatleng said the fight started when the residents tried to remove all the illegal connections from the transformer.?The high number of illegal connections was causing the transformer to continuously trip, as it was overloaded.
“The Tshwane metro could have dealt with the matter three years ago when Nellmapius saw a fast-growing number of informal settlements,” Ntlatleng said.
“I warned the metro about the situation and the impending fight which the illegal connections would cause.”
The situation has worsened and residents in Nellmapius, who are paying for Tshwane services, are without electricity for days.
“It is alleged that during the fight nearby informal settlement residents retaliated by throwing stones and damaging the transformer.”
“The most affected residents are from extensions 2 and 4 because they are residing next to Mavuso and Willow Farm informal settlements,”said Ntlatleng.
“The residents are demanding water and a temporary transformer electricity metre box to supply them in the meantime while waiting to be relocated,” he said.
Ntlatleng said the residents had since reported the matter and he also personally reported the matter to senior officials at the Waltloo Tshwane electricity depo with no success.
“I don’t want to see what happened between Mahube Valley, Mamelodi East and Mountain View informal settlement dwellers in 2017, which ended with shacks being petrol-bombed and several houses attacked because of a transformer that blew up because it was overloaded with illegal connections.”
Several roads in Nellmapius were barricaded with rocks and burning tyres by residents demanding electricity.
He added that the Tshwane metro should have attended the matter a long time ago to avoid clashes between residents.
“We are planning to go to Tshwane House to launch a complaint and have the matter sorted before residents kill each other,” said Ntlatleng.
He further said they also reported the matter to the local acting regional executive director, but to no avail.
The Tshwane metro had yet to provide comment by time of publication.
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