Disconnection of illegal electricity connections cause havoc in Boksburg
Residents of Reiger Park, Delmore Park, Delmore Gardens, a section of Witfield, Knights and Lilianton suffer constant power outages believed to be due to overloading of the network, caused mostly by illegal connections.
Motorists have for almost a week been forced to inconveniently use alternative routes to avoid protests over electricity on the stretch of Wit Deep Road between Commissioner and Main Reef roads.
The problem reportedly started on November 13 when residents of the Jerusalem and Delmore informal settlements woke up to find that their illegal electricity connections were removed.
Reacting against the disconnections, a group of people, believed to be from both informal settlements, barricaded the road and went on a rampage, wrecking municipal infrastructure and several trucks passing through the area.
Both the EMPD and SAPS arrived at the affected area and managed to keep the situation under control.
To apparently further express their frustrations of being left without power, the group allegedly sabotaged the power lines which supply electricity legally to nearby townships Delmore Park and Delmore Gardens, which resulted in an almost week-long power outage.
Residents from these townships then held a peaceful protest on November 15 outside the Germiston Council Chambers to voice their grievances.
They handed over a memorandum to the mayor’s office, demanding the metro restores electricity to these townships immediately. They also demanded that the electrical feeder supply is moved from where it is located to a secured place to prevent it from being vandalised or tampered with. Residents gave the mayor seven days to respond to their grievances.
- Protests
To vent their frustration, residents of Delmore Park and Delmore Gardens also took to the street on November 18, barricading the road with burning tyres, stones and tree branches, preventing motorists from passing through the townships.
Police were again called and kept an eagle eye on the situation.
Although electricity was restored on November 18, residents of these two townships woke the morning of November 19 to find their water supply has been disrupted.
This prompted residents to return to the street to vent their anger.
It remains unclear as to what caused the water disruption, but residents believe the water line was deliberately destroyed.
Ward 33 Clr Ashley Hoods said: “I understand the informal settlements’ frustrations of being without electricity and other essential services, but that doesn’t give them the right to infringe on the rights of others.
“The Ekurhuleni leadership needs to man up and admit they have for years failed to improve and develop the lives of the people living in informal settlements.
“It’s time the municipality goes to the informal settlements and tells people the truth, that stealing and vandalising the infrastructure is a criminal offence that is counter-productive and infringes on the rights of other citizens and that such behaviour deserves the harshest of punishment.
“Those who have service delivery issues to raise must use the right channels to engage with authorities,” said Hoods.
The councillor added that from what he understands, the informal settlement residents resorted to violence and sabotaging the nearby townships to draw the attention of authorities to their demands for electricity.
Hoods has called for an investigation into what appears to be “deliberate acts of sabotage”.
Concerned community
Meanwhile, a resident one of the township, Pastor Jarol Eftha, said the almost week-long power outage forced residents to throw away meat and other perishable foods from their refrigerators.
“We pay for electricity but they don’t pay for anything. We have got babies that we look after and those babies need food and their bottles need warm water.
“Also, some people suffer from asthma attacks and those who rely on machines that use electricity are suffering now,” said Eftha.
Another concerned citizen, Annah Marais of Elsburg, said her husband has since last week been forced to fork out extra money for petrol to travel to work and back home on a different route due to the electricity fights along Wit Deep Road.
“Why has the metro allowed this to happen in the first place? Even without the protest, driving along the area is very dangerous with the network of illegal power cables hanging on trees and poles across the road. This is a sign that there is no rule of law in the municipality.
“This puts the lives of the residents and motorists in danger and the municipality is turning a blind eye,” said Marais.
Eskom officials have during a recent meeting with reporters urged communities to shun illegal connections and stop vandalising the power infrastructure.
Some residents have also complained that illegal electricity connections in the city are widespread, saying these activities are causing harm to paying and legally connected residents, including businesses.
Comment was requested from the metro, but at the time of going to print nothing has been received.
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