Pretoria - The City of Ekurhuleni has intensified its campaign to get rid of illegal connections across the municipality, having removed over 17 000 such connections since the drive started over two months ago.
The city’s illegal connection team -- comprising Red Ant Security Services; Combined Private Investigators (CPI); Metro Police's Cable Theft Unit and Public Order Policing Unit and SAPS, led by the municipality's Energy Department -- visited Zama Zama and Peter Mokaba informal settlements in Extension 28, Vosloorus, to remove illegally connected cables.
The campaign has been to Mpilisweni in Thokoza; Ramaphosa in Reiger Park; KwaThema Extension 3 and 6 and KwaThema Hostel; Langaville Extension 6 and 8; Daggafontein in Springs, and Mkhatshwa informal settlement near Ergo in Brakpan.
Other parts of Ekurhuleni will be visited in the next two months.
Millions lost in revenue
The illegal connection of electricity is a major problem, which has seen the municipality losing R36 million per annum. This translates to losses of about R2.8 million to R4.9 million that the metro suffers per month.
The metro says this is money which could otherwise be channelled towards service delivery projects.
In a bid to address this huge loss, the city went on a month-long awareness campaign in September to educate communities about the impact of illegal connections, where over 30 000 illegal connections were identified.
The campaign has entered its second leg, where the actual removal of illegal connections is being carried out.
"In spite of the dangers associated with illegally connecting electricity and the fact that this practice destroys the economy and reduces work opportunities, as well as destroy power infrastructure, the practice is still rife, especially at informal settlements," said municipal spokesperson Sam Modiba.
Modiba pointed out that this year alone, four children were killed in Dukathole near Germiston as a result of illegal connections, while in another incident last month, a 42-year-old KwaThema man was electrocuted while trying to steal electricity.
"We are appealing to community members to help us fight illegal connections by reporting such incidents to our emergency call centre on 0860 543 000," said Modiba.
Meanwhile, the City of Ekurhuleni is currently rolling out solar energy lighting to identified households in Ekurhuleni's informal settlements, for which no short or medium plans are in place for relocation or upgrading.
The 10Watt solar lighting unit consists of a solar panel, a battery control box and four LED lights. The solar panel is positioned on top of the roof but cannot be stolen because it is built in from inside the house. The lifespan of the battery is three to five years.
The LED lights have the capacity to keep shining for up to 100 000 hours. – SAnews.gov.za
