The City of Ekurhuleni has recorded close to R800 million a year in non-technical electricity losses, caused among other factors by illegal power connections across the City.
This is according to metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe who said the City has undertaken rolling operations of disconnecting illegal connections and arresting suspected syndicates.
“Close to 30 arrests of perpetrators who illegally tampered with electrical infrastructure have been made in November alone,” said Gadebe.
“These arrests were made during raids to disconnect illegal connection led by the City’s Energy Department and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department to curb unlawful connections.”
He said the City has resorted to use a harsher possible criminal justice process by using the new legislative framework (Criminal Matters Amendment Act No 18 of 2015).
“Initially, people accused of tampering with electrical equipment could be released on bail by a police officer or a prosecutor as the crime was deemed a minor offence.
“The amended legislation provides that bail for persons accused of crimes related to essential infrastructure, such as water and electricity installations, may only be considered by a court, not police officers or prosecutors.
“The legislation has also provided for harsher minimum sentences ranging from three years to seven years for some of essential infrastructure crimes, and regulated theft of ferrous or non-ferrous metal which formed part of essential infrastructure.”
The Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water, Sanitation and Energy Tiisetso Nketle said the City has adopted a hard-line approach to illegal connection of electricity.
“In addition to the use of the criminal justice system to curb illegal connections, customers who are found to have connected illegally will face a back-billing from the day they stopped purchasing electricity,” Nketle said.
“In addition, the costs of disconnection and re-instating legal connection to a business customer are borne by the concerned customer as illustrated in the table below.
For removing and re-instating a business customer connection that is found in a tampered state costs the following (material, labour and transport, VAT exclusive): R 93 728.07 > 1 MVA, R 28 118.42 > 500 kVA and ≤ 1 MVA, R 14 059.21 > 100 kVA and ≤ 500 kVA, R 14 059.21 ≤ 100 kVA
For removing and re-instating a business customer connection that is found in a tampered state:
Nketle said those who want to avoid the consequences of illegal connections can visit the nearest Energy Depot to normalise their connections.
Gadebe said residents are encouraged to report any illegal connection or suspicion of illegal connection activities through the municipal Call Centre on 086 054 3000.
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