SANDF ‘out of order’ for cutting illegal connections in the cold, locals cry

In the race to cut off illegal connections as temperatures around the country drop while electricity demand increases, the police, SA National Defence Force, Johannesburg metro police and Ekhurhuleni metro police departments have camped out in several parts of the country, in an effort to reduce the number of illegal connections.

The police, SANDF, JMPD and EMPD were in Rabie Ridge, Kanana and Marikana on Wednesday to cut off illegal connections in the areas, which are the primary cause of overloading and unexpected outages.

Several areas were left powerless and remained in the dark during the country’s coldest weekend due to unplanned outages, which were a result of the network being overloaded because of the increased demand for power.

The situation was exacerbated by illegal connections, which according to City Power had mushroomed in several areas throughout the city.

While Environment and Infrastructure Services MMC Mpho Moerane apologised to locals for the freezing inconvenience caused by power outages, he fingered overstretched resources as the reason for the outages.

In some areas such as Rabie Ridge, power was restored after more than 36 hours, as a mini-substation faulted due to overloading. In Klipfontein, two mini-substations burnt down due to reported illegal connections, while Eldorado Park had multiple cable faults which plunged several parts of the area into darkness. A mini substation also blew up in Coronationville due to illegal connections, according to the MMC.

Other areas affected were Tshepisong, Vlakfontein, Lenasia, Thembelihle and the Johannesburg CBD.

In a mass operation, the SANDF, police and metro departments have targeted the areas, in an effort to reduce the unwanted pressure on the grids.

City Power confirmed a technical team was working on power restorations affecting Lenasia and that a feeder board was being cleaned.

While a unit was cutting off illegal connections in Rabie Ridge on Wednesday, an empty house was found where bundles of cables were stored. According to City Power, the cables found were similar to those used by City Power.

Residents from Kanana extension four in Marikana said removing the illegal connections was not the solution as they were facing the coronavirus pandemic as well as the cold. “How are we supposed to survive,” asked one local.

Many residents currently had no paraffin or another source of power, he said.

He proposed that government add power meters to each shack so locals could each pay for their own electricity.

“This thing of removing power during a cold front is out of order,” he said.

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