City Power has vowed to intensify cut-off operations in order to alleviate the pressure on the grid caused by illegal connections across the City of Johannesburg.
Also read: https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2021/11/29/illegal-connections-removed-in-zandspruit/
On Wednesday, June 1 the Revenue Protection Unit pounced on two informal settlements, one in Lenasia Extension 11 and the other on Pierre Road in Ruimsig AH to remove illegal connections.
According to the power utility, illegal connections have not only been inconveniencing the paying customers, but are costing the City millions in lost revenue.
During the operation in Lenasia eight tons of mixed cables, including bare wires and aluminium cables, estimated to cost around R350 000, were cut and recovered.
City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena saidthat the impact of illegal connections on the electricity infrastructure is huge. It causes overloading of the network leading to outages and the malfunctioning of the network, sometimes endangering people in their own homes when they touch door handles or taps.
“The spider web of the bare wires retrieved during today’s operation posed a serious danger to the residents in the area, especially kids at a nearby school where some of the illegal cables were running. We will intensify these operations across the City to ensure we deal with the problem of overloading, especially during winter when the demand for electricity is high,” said Mangena.
