LISTEN | Authorities move into Kliptown’s Chicken Farm to cut illegal power lines as Cele meets Diale family

20 April 2022 - 13:00
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Eskom and City Power teams are disconnecting dangerous illegal electricity lines in Chicken Farm informal settlement in Kliptown, Soweto.

This is the area where a group of people, allegedly residents of Pimville, together with Operation Dudula members, marched on Monday to protest against continuous power outages due to cable theft. Kgomotso Vincent Diale, a father of two, died during the protest in circumstances under investigation by police.

On Wednesday authorities were stripping homes with illegal connections to the sounds of buzzing and popping as the tightly strung cables were cut.

A few residents watched.

Earlier, at an informal settlement near Kliptown Square, authorities were met with ire from mostly women residents. Incidents of stone-throwing were reported.

Police minister Bheki Cele was in the area on Wednesday to receive a briefing from Gauteng police on recent crimes in Kliptown. 

Cele then met the Diale family at their home, while Dudula leader Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini addressed a crowd that had gathered nearby.

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The minister, speaking to residents at a park near the Diale home, said Pimville police needed more tools to combat crime.

Amid heckling from the crowd, he said 10 more police vehicles would be made available to the precinct.

A team of 12 detectives had been assembled to probe Diale's death and cases of attempted murder for the shooting of six people at Chicken Farm, said Cele. 

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