A 20-year fight for reliable electricity supply between Tongaat’s Belvedere ratepayers and nearby Umbhayi informal settlement residents continues with no solution in sight.
Saxon, Edmundsbury and Rajcoomar street residents are left powerless to combat the spate of illegal electrical connections which often leaves them with only three to four hours of power per day.
Speaking to the Courier, residents claim they have repeatedly appealed to the eThekwini municipality to find a solution, which they say is entirely possible.
One solution would be to move electrical boxes inside ratepayers’ properties, thereby placing them out of reach of those who connect illegally.
But according to committee member and administrator for ward 61, Melissa George, the municipality said there was no working budget available for such an intervention.
“We have 20 homes directly impacted by illegal connections. The municipality comes out as much as twice per day to remove these connections but they are quickly replaced, sometimes within half an hour.”
George said residents are at their wits’ end.
Swaminath Rajcoomar said illegal connections have become the norm, with Umbhayi residents working in broad daylight to connect themselves.
“We need a solution. If it isn’t water, it’s electricity. We pay our rates, but have no lights,” he said.
Rajcoomar said they relied on electricity to properly store medicine and have lost appliances to the electrical overloads.
“At times, cables are so damaged that deep excavations are needed to make repairs. We once had no power for three weeks,” said an Edmundsbury Street mother of two who preferred not to be named.
Illegal connections to her electricity box results in her being faced with bills as high as R6 000. Tasks such as cooking have become a nightmare, with the high prices of paraffin and gas also making it difficult to put food on the table, she said.
There have also been six deaths related to illegal connections in the area in the past three years. Umbhayi residents say they have no choice to resort to illegal connections as it was their only means of survival.
A former electrician, Thulani Ngcobo has two children and he earns an income by helping informal residents connect illegally, for which he charges between R10 and R20.
“A litre of paraffin costs R35. I do not earn a lot, and cannot afford losing food when there’s no power,” he said.
The nearby Isibanesezwe Day Care Centre looks after 65 children, some as young as 18 months old.
“We pay the Izinyoka – a group of people who connect electricity illegally – R50 per month to help keep our lights on,” said the centre’s Nonhlanhla Mthembu.
Without electricity, they have to resort to gas to prepare food for their children, which they cannot afford because of high gas prices.
George said it was a difficult situation for everyone – ratepayers who pay their bills but feel they unfairly subsidise those using illegal connections, and the poverty-stricken who cannot afford electricity but is in desperate need of it.
eThekwini municipal spokesperson, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, said illegal connections are a socio-economic problem exacerbated by the growing number of people flocking to the metro and living in informal settlements.
“This negatively impacts surrounding areas, causing overload trips,” she said, appealing to residents to report illegal electricity connections at 080 311 111.
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