Metro disconnects 800 illegal electricity connections in West informal settlement
Some of the illegal connections were made with stolen Tshwane metro infrastructure.
The Tshwane metro and metro police disconnected 800 illegal electricity connections at the Brazzaville informal settlement in Pretoria West last Tuesday.
Metro utilities and regional operations MMC Daryl Johnston said the SAPS helped with the operation.
“An estimated R400 000 of electrical material was removed, including 11kV overhead lines, aluminium conductors and aluminium aerial bundle conductors,” he said.
“Our teams also removed three medium-voltage transformers. This is a significant set of stolen infrastructure.”
Johnston said illegal connections are the reason many areas experience power trips after load-shedding, which result in extended power outages.
He said the theft of City infrastructure makes the power outages even worse.
“Furthermore, illegal connections cost the City hundreds of millions of rand in damages to infrastructure and repair costs,” Johnston added.
“These result in significant non-revenue losses that destroy the City’s finances.”
Johnston said the metro will continue to implement measures to prevent illegal electrical connections.
He added that this operation was one of many measures implemented to protect City infrastructure.
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