Community catches electricity thief

After large parts of Witpoortjie were without electricity last night (31 July) because of electricity theft, community members of Princess informal settlement apprehended the culprit this morning.

The suspect apparently cut through a high-voltage cable at one of the substations on Albertina Sisulu Road during the night and made his own illegal connections. The community members who caught the suspect are not so innocent though, according to a bystander. These same residents allegedly are the ones who sell illegal connections at R200 per connection and they were not pleased with the suspect bypassing their money-making racket.

Police had to restore order this morning and keep guard alongside Linda Security Company (contracted by the City) while City Power removed hundreds of metres of illegal connections.

By 11.30am most of the affected area’s electricity was restored.