Eskom takes pleads against misuse of electricity
Eskom urges the public to assist them in their fight against the misuse of electricity around the country
POLOKWANE –Â According to the power utility, this not only costs the company a lot of money each year, but puts the lives of others in danger.
“Residents and businesses regularly connect to the Eskom network illegally, and not only is this dangerous for the individual making the connection, but puts the rest of the community at risk. In addition, illegal connections and electricity theft cause unnecessary power failures/outages that overstretch our resources slowing down our service delivery to legal power users. Eskom has found that most people understand that connecting illegally can be dangerous, but they continue to use illegal connections,” says Phemelo Biloane, Communication Practitioner at Eskom’s Limpopo Operating Unit.
Eskom also remains concerned about the safety of communities, which may be at risk due to the escalating number of illegal connections, meter bypassing or tampering and vandalism of electricity infrastructure.
In some areas in Polokwane, illegal connections are a constant struggle.
One of the areas in question is Greenside, where cable theft is rife, and the community say it’s not their place to alert the municipality about the problem.
A woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “many of us see these illegal connections happen on a daily basis, but we will not say anything about it. It is not my place to say anything, but I know that this is not right because it puts all of us in danger, especially our children because they play in the street”.
According to Eskom, illegal connections and cable theft are at the forefront of power outages, especially during the winter season, but they are however working to remedy this problem.
“We are doing our best to minimise incidents of faults and restoration times, however due to the nature of an electrical network, these can occur at any time.”
