WATCH: City Power cracks down on electricity theft
Aluminium wires worth R500 000 confiscated at Princess informal settlement.

City Power disconnected and confiscated over 150 kilograms of aluminium wires worth half a million rand, during a cut-off operation in Princess informal settlement on Tuesday, January 21.
The joint operation between City Power and law enforcement agencies targeted illegal connections within the informal settlement, as well as other properties, including a panel beater, bakery, and crèche along Albertina Sisulu Road. A network of aluminium wires was found connected to streetlights, running through fences, and providing unauthorised power supply.
@caxton.jhbwest City Power conducts a cut-off operation targeting illegal electricity connections at Princess informal settlement. According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, this squarter camp has been taking electricity from formalised houses in adjacent areas and business along Albertina Sisulu Road.#CityPower #Fyp #illegalconnections #Roodepoort #Caxton
According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, the squatter camp is one of the problematic areas in the region that is straining the system and affecting people in surrounding areas who are paying for their electricity.
Mangena said efforts are underway to combat electricity theft, particularly in areas like Princess, where illegal connections lead to overloaded circuits.

“These illegal connections are often tapped from formalised houses in Witpoortjie and nearby businesses along Albertina Sisulu Road. A few months ago, City Power introduced load reduction measures to curb the excessive electricity consumption in high-density areas, which negatively leads to major revenue losses when damaged infrastructure must be replaced. Surrounding areas are still undergoing load reduction due to illegal connections,” he said.

Mangena added during last year’s November token identifier rollover project, many residents from Princess visited the Roodepoort Service Delivery Centre to apply for prepaid meters. However, the informal settlement is still divided into two sections – one rife with illegal connections and the other electrified through the approval of the Department of Human Settlements.
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“City Power has already completed two phases of the electrification project within the informal settlement and is awaiting approval from the Department of Human Settlements to formalise connections for the section without electricity. Additionally, the entity is implementing microgrid solutions across the City of Johannesburg to provide clean, reliable energy to communities and enhance energy resilience. Microgrids, in a nutshell, are small local electricity grids powered by renewable resources and can operate independently from the main network.”

He stated City Power has already identified 14 informal settlements across the city that will benefit from the microgrids project.