City Power warns illegally connected residents in Alexandra that ‘we are coming for you’

City Power held a revenue collection community outreach programme in Alexandra’s Tsutsumani Village on January 26 as part of a campaign to recover more than R363 million owed to the powerful entity of the City of Johannesburg.

The outstanding amount is owed in areas that fall under the greater Alexandra area which encompasses suburbs such as Kew, Bramley, Lyndhurst, Lombardy East and West, Sandringham, Illovo, Atholl and Wynberg.

Entity spokesperson Isaac Mangena said they were unable to say how much Alex alone owes City Power due to the simple reason that most of the households in the township are under the prepaid programme while some are believed to have either bridged the power supply or connected themselves illegally through what is commonly known as ‘izinykanyoka’, which refers to the snaking wires that draw illegal power supply.

City Power acting general manager for the greater Alex Service Delivery Centre in Kew Lerato Kgalema said the purpose of the outreach was to educate the community about the importance of paying for services so as to enable City Power to maintain its infrastructure and also continue to provide essential services to the City residents.

“We also touched on the critical issue of the dangers posed by illegal connections, which we understand that early this week claimed the life of a Zenzeleni Primary School boy learner who was electrocuted while visiting a library close to his home.

“We want the residents to understand that theft of electricity not only robs City Power of vital revenue to do more but also endangers their own lives and those of their children, such as the Zenzeleni boy,” Kgalema said.

She also appealed to residents to be vigilant at all times and guard the infrastructure that services them. “We call upon you to report any unlawful activity around our substations to your local councillors.

“Our technicians will always wear branded City Power uniforms, drive in branded cars and have cards to prove their identity, and anyone without all that is not an employee of the entity and is a person that will be tampering with our substations.”

Kgalema said part of the probelms affecting Eskom with load-shedding emanate from the rampant power theft. “We urge you to come to our offices to sort out your story with us before we pounce on you. We have just been to Kew and Wynberg, and we are coming to you [Alexandra residents].”