In a desperate bid to address the Delmore Park and Delmore Garden townships constant power outages, believed to be caused by electricity cable thefts, the metro is now working on a plan to install an alternative electrical supply to the Delmore areas.
This comes after the affected townships were left without power for almost a week, following a violent protest by people believed to be from Jerusalem and Delmore informal settlements.
Residents from these communities marched to the Germiston Council Chambers to voice their grievances, and they advised the municipality to move the electrical feeder supply to a secured place in order to prevent it from being vandalised or tampered with.
The metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, said the delay to restore power in the townships was due to the dangerous and volatile situation which saw the electricity crew being intimidated while trying to carry out repairs to the infrastructure that was vandalised during a protest.
To vent their frustration, residents of Delmore Park and Delmore Gardens have for more than a week now been protesting on Wit Deep Road over electricity and water disruptions in their respective areas.
- Power theft
The municipality has been accused of turning a blind eye to the electricity issues, trying to downplay the seriousness of the brazen electricity thefts in the different informal settlements.
The metro, however, refuted the allegation of giving lacklustre attention and said it conducts “regular operations” to remove illegal electricity connections and that it has formed a Cable Theft Unit to stop this practice.
The municipality vowed that it will continuously implement the removal of illegal connections, saying illegal connections were removed in Ramaphosa, Villa Liza, Delmore and Madelakufa in Tembisa during September, and the latest operation was held in Jerusalem and Delmore informal settlement.
“The City is also conducting continuous consumer education to educate consumers about illegal connections, theft and vandalism and the negative effect thereof on the electrical network,” said Gadebe.
- Electrification of informal settlement
When asked as to when will the Jerusalem informal settlement be supplied with electricity, Gadebe said: “The City has planned to provide electricity to all informal settlements, though Jerusalem informal settlement will not be electrified this financial year.”
In a previous statement issued by Gadebe, the metro said it was working on a de-densification and re-blocking programme for informal settlements before electrification can commence.
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