City Power cancels illegal connections cut-off due to safety concerns

City Power has suspended an illegal connections operation in Tshepisong, which was supposed to take place on Thursday, July 24, due to safety concerns.

Tshepisong was suspended from all services last week due to incidents of intimidation, threats, and serious safety risks directed at operators, alongside high levels of meter bypassing and illegal connections.

According to City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena, the operation has been cancelled because the police do not have enough members to deal with the threats that they might face.

“Tshepisong is one of the areas that’s not paying for electricity, and we are not collecting any revenue from them, but we’ve continued to service them and spend money on the infrastructure that we’ve replaced,” Mangena said.

He added that since January, they have replaced about 20 pole transformers, costing R400 000 each.

He said only 3% of residents are paying for electricity, and most of those are businesses.

Mangena said the area will remain off until August 5, when they can go in safely.