City Power declares on war informal settlement residents after electricity theft
City Power has asked police to curb vandalism of electricity infrastructure in Johannesburg.
City Power said it had opened a criminal case after a recent incident in which electricity poles were struck down in Unaville informal settlement‚ Lenasia South. Residents in the area have blamed squatters for electricity disruptions as a result of theft.
“It is not clear why this was done but it is suspected that it was done in anger as a retaliation after City Power cut off illegal connections that have been disrupting electricity supply to paying customers‚ including the Grasmere Toll Gate nearby‚” City Power said in a statement.
“City Power has opened a case of damage to essential infrastructure in terms of the Criminal Amendment Act (CMAA)‚ with the police‚ and we have also increased our plain-clothed security visibility in the area. If found guilty‚ the CMAA imposes a maximum sentence of 30 years.”
City Power believes that thieves have been stealing transformer poles in the area‚ which may be why the latter crime was committed. It has replaced seven pole-mounted transformers in Lenasia South‚ at a cost of about R1.5 million.
“We are also working with law enforcement agencies to ensure those responsible for this‚ which is really a crime against the state‚ are apprehended. We should not allow lawlessness and any efforts to interrupt supply of electricity to the majority of our people should be thwarted and rejected‚” said City Power CEO Lerato Setshedi.
Officials said the Unaville settlement sprang up several months ago on a local farm‚ with residents illegally reconnecting an old line that supplied electricity to nearby farms.
“The illegal cables have been dangerously connected to the low voltage circuit. Some of the wires have even been connected directly onto the medium voltage lines. The poor nature of these connections and the resultant overloading of the circuit result in nuisance trips and premature failures of pole transformers‚” City Power said.
“Most of the current transformers supplying the area are new as the old ones had failed prematurely due to illegal connections. Restoring power to the area has proved to be a futile exercise because as soon as it is back on‚ it trips again on overload.”
Efforts to intervene have done little to fix the problem.
“City Power teams that are dispatched to restore power to the area must first cut off these dangerous wires but are prevented from doing so by informal settlement dwellers. Removal of illegal connections is also not a lasting solution as they are reconnected as soon the teams leave site.”