City of Tshwane authorities and law enforcement agencies are cutting off illegal electricity connections in parts of the city. The disconnections come as power utilities take a huge strain due to the recent cold spell.
Residents living in shacks said they need power, but their neighbours in brick houses complain of blackouts due to the illegal connections.
Officials from the Tshwane Electricity Department are moving street-to-street removing illegal connections in Nelmapius.
The connections are not the work of an amateur. It is suspected corruption within the Tshwane municipality may be at play. The people living in the informal settlement say they would not resort to these extreme measures if they were provided with services.
On the other side of the road, residents have welcomed the municipality’s intervention. The city is blaming the illegal connections on criminal elements and thugs. It rejects the claim that it hasn’t tried to help the community.
Tshwane administrator Lebogang Mahaye said, “people prefer to invade land illegally and put themselves there and demand services but when we demand that they go through processes so as to legitimise – they don’t want to – and this is where the criminal element comes in.
Residents say disconnecting the electricity is futile because it will simply be reconnected within days.
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Source: eNCA
