Gungubele said that, following the news of 10-year-old Asindile Pati, who was electrocuted and died as a result of illegal connections in Thokoza recently, it is time for the community to say “enough is enough”.
“Every time we make an effort to remove illegal connections we get attacked by angry communities,” added Gungubele.
“The sad scenario is that the practice claims innocent lives on an annual basis, yet communities still allow it to continue.
“Our communities must understand that, while this is a threat to the electricity grid in the country, our main issue as the municipality is the loss of innocent lives.
“You will know that not only do people get electrocuted, even those who rely on electricity-dependent life-support systems are endangered because of unplanned power outages forced by overloading the system.”
The mayor encouraged parents to keep a watchful eye on their children to prevent more such incidents.
Gungubele appealed to local communities to support the city in its ongoing campaign against illegal connections.
The campaign started two years ago and is targeting illegal connections hot spots by removing them.
The city loses almost R200-million due to the theft of electricity each year.
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