Second-hand goods dealers barred
City Power appeals to residents to report acts of criminality and illegal connections to authority.
Second-hand goods street dealers have been shown that their suspicious services are not welcomed in the Strubens Valley area.
This after a proactive security company member confiscated fibre-optic equipment, which a man was selling to residents at a local shopping centre on 24 July. According to SRT security, the equipment was in a black plastic bag.
The police were called to investigate the matter.Cable theft has been the reason for the recent power outages affecting a large portion of Roodepoort. An aerial bundle conductor cable, which was stolen on 8 July, caused various street lights to malfunction.
This crisis also landed a City Power technician in hospital after a transformer exploded on 9 July while he was doing repairs.
Last month, a panel-beating business along Beyers Naudé Drive threatened to relocate after falling victim to power outages due to illegal connections. The owners’ argument was that they were losing a lot of business and had to waste money buying diesel while waiting for power to be restored.
In a statement, City Power spokesperson Hloni Motloung said the power utility was making encouraging progress to combat illegal connections and corruption. “To date, City Power has secured over 274 convictions. In the period October to December 2015, it has recovered over 24 tons of stolen cable,” he said. He also encouraged residents to report these matters to the authorities.
“We appeal to residents to report acts of criminality and illegal connections to their nearest police station or to call City Power anonymously on the toll-free number 0800 00 25 87,” he concluded.
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