On liability for damage to the service connection, Mangena said unless the property owner or customer can prove negligence on the part of City Power or the City of Johannesburg, the customer will be liable for damage.
“No person shall in any manner or for any reason paint, deface, tamper or interfere with any service connection, and only an authorised employee or authorised agent of City Power or the city council may make any adjustment or repair thereto,” he said.
“City Power does its best to invest in private security and work with law enforcement agencies. We believe the solution lies with communities committing to safeguarding infrastructure, especially within their private properties, using resources such as patrollers, CPFs [community policing forums], neighbourhood watch and working with police.”
Electricity cable stolen? City Power says you must buy and pay private technicians to install it
Image: 123rf.com/Thanasak Boonchoong
Johannesburg residents will have to pay to replace stolen cables supplying power to their homes.
City Power this week announced it will no longer pay to replace cables after it incurred a R188m bill for replacing them in the past financial year.
Speaking to TimesLIVE, spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the cost of cables will differ depending on the size of customers' capacity and the distance from the City Power supply to their house.
“Single phase will not be the same as three-phase houses. It would be difficult to determine the exact costs the customer will be liable for,” he said.
“[The] customer buys the cable and pays their private qualified technicians to install it. City Power will assist with the isolation of the supply to the property to ensure safety and switch it back on after the cable is installed.”
It wasn't us, we don't go into tunnels, say homeless people and zama zamas
On liability for damage to the service connection, Mangena said unless the property owner or customer can prove negligence on the part of City Power or the City of Johannesburg, the customer will be liable for damage.
“No person shall in any manner or for any reason paint, deface, tamper or interfere with any service connection, and only an authorised employee or authorised agent of City Power or the city council may make any adjustment or repair thereto,” he said.
“City Power does its best to invest in private security and work with law enforcement agencies. We believe the solution lies with communities committing to safeguarding infrastructure, especially within their private properties, using resources such as patrollers, CPFs [community policing forums], neighbourhood watch and working with police.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to TimesLIVE Premium. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE:
Investigation outlines three possible scenarios that led to CBD explosions
Zama zamas unlikely behind Bree Street explosion: department of mineral resources
Damaged cable causes electrical problems at Hillbrow clinic
City Power technicians hijacked while on duty in Lenasia
Joburg explosion: How Transnet and Sasol warned of potential disaster in 2018
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos