By Neelam Rahim

City Power has vowed to intensify cut-off operations to alleviate the pressure on the grid caused by illegal connections across the City of Johannesburg.

According to the power utility, illegal connections have inconvenienced the paying customers and are costing the City millions in lost revenue.

Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said: “The impact of illegal connections on our electricity infrastructure is huge as it causes overloading of the network, leading to more outages. Also, the malfunctioning of the network leaves some houses with shocking effect when they touch door handles and taps and even their gates.”

The recent operation in Lenasia recovered eight tones of composite cables, including bare wires and aluminium cables, estimated to cost around R350, 000.

Radio Islam speaks to Shahim Ismail, a community activist and also from Lethal Forces.

Shahim says, “During City Powers’ usual Wednesday operation to disconnect all the illegal cables bringing the station back to normality. The people from the informal settlement did not appreciate it, and that is when they vented their anger at the motorists and tried to put up a protest on the R554 between Trade Route Mall and the Golden Highway.”

“What needs to be done is the infrastructure in Lenasia needs to be protected although there is a security company that has been assigned to look after the station, they are nowhere in sight. We have to look at a long term solution where the residents in the community do not suffer. We have to arrest the people involved in connecting these illegal cables,” says Shahim.