Gomora protest action erupts due to stripping of illegal connections

Gomora residents angrily took to the streets of Pretoria West after the Tshwane metro disconnected their electricity connections on Monday, May 13 as they were illegally installed, according to a councillor.

Van der Hoff Road, between Hornsnek Road and Malie Street, was affected.

Protest action in Pretoria west at Van der Hoff road between Hornsnek road and Malie Street. TMPD members deployed to monitor the situation.#TMPDsafety pic.twitter.com/1JPA5ZhEFr

— Tshwane Metro Police (@TMPDSafety) May 13, 2024

Ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar, who works alongside Ward 55 councillor Yvonne Dzumba in Gomora, described the protest as a “rampage”.

Kruyshaar said the #TshwaneYaTima project had operated to remove all illegal connections in the metro, which Gomora residents did not respond well to in the face of the operations.

He said the settlement was first disconnected on May 6 and 7, which in turn sparked the said rampage.

“On the morning of May 7, Tshwane returned, but this time, the community mobilised and attacked the teams as they were taking down the illegal cables and poles,” Kruyshaar said.

He said since then, the community has not stopped rioting and insisted on having their power installed in the informal settlement.

“The illegal connections around 400 shacks were tapped into a Tshwane transformer feeding approximately 25 houses in Booysens, causing the network to trip and the transformer to catch fire and explode.”

According to Kruyshaar, the metro has already replaced 13 transformers at R2-million to no avail, as the community keeps tapping into the network that is severely overloaded.

“This would cause the power to trip in the area, leaving Booysens without power for several days a month and a huge rift between the two communities. The Booysens community has been reporting the illegal connections to Tshwane as they happen,” he said.

He added that Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink had also invited the Gomora residents to Tshwane House to engage and find a solution to this problem, however, they decided against it and were now using violence as a tool to negotiate.

“I was shot with a catapult while trying to negotiate a temporary peace treaty. I am also aware of some SAPS members and private security company personnel who have sustained minor injuries.”

Kruyshaar emphasised that these rioters only represent around 30% of Gomora and do not represent the other peaceful and law-abiding citizens in the area.

“They have been on a rampage to destroy Tshwane infrastructure. Ever since then, around R1-million worth of damage has been caused to our infrastructure in the last few days, not to mention the damage to residents’ property. Several windows have been deliberately broken as the mob moved through the Booysens area yesterday, destroying anything that belongs to Tshwane and the residents who all live in fear.”

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