Continuous illegal connections in Goudrand leave residents feeling unheard
Johannesburg City Power embarked on a cable removal which saw 16 tons worth over R900 000 being removed, however, residents feel like nothing was done as it will be reconnected in no time.
Residents of Goudrand, specifically on the corner of Clubhouse and Caddie streets, said that illegal connections have an impact on their livelihoods and despite City Power’s efforts to remove them, it remains a concern as they are reconnected a few days after removal.
The problem extends beyond only the power, as frustrated resident Jabu Moyo stated. Their appliances and other electronics are also affected due to the high or low voltage. He mentioned that his fridge and stove do not work anymore; it went off and did not come back on and some have lost TVs.
“I have been living in the area for the past two years now and with the illegal connections, it has been very difficult because those cables burn almost twice a week, leaving our street with no power for at least two days. In June we stayed a full week without power,” Jabu said.
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While several calls have been logged with Johannesburg City Power, residents did not receive the updates that they were hoping for, and upon reaching out to the power utility on July 12 for comment on the matter, Isaac Mangena, the spokesperson for City Power, cited that removal was in progress on July 13.
“It is very dangerous for the school children that pass there every morning and afternoon. Also, for our children in the community. We need city power to bring a box and remove the illegal connections,” Moyo cited.
The utility, in a statement on June 27 cited that they are aware of illegal connections and which areas are mostly affected and embarked on a cable removal in the Goudrand area on July 14 which saw the removal of 16 tons of cable that was illegally connected which was worth over R900 000.
While this exercise was effective, residents said that it is no permanent solution as a few days down the line, the same thing is relived, leaving them frustrated all over again.
“Nothing was done there. They just removed the cables. It was reconnected and there was no box installed. The situation, sadly, remains the same,” he said.
Another resident cited that those wires are normally replaced within three to four hours based on what has been happening in the last few weeks. It’s not a permanent solution.
City Power said that they are committed to safeguarding and protecting the electricity network infrastructure against various crime risks and that they will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to curb these acts of crime.
In the case of essential infrastructure crimes, in 2020/ 2021 City Power recorded 1 899 incidents of vandalism and cable theft and arrested 75 suspects, and in 2021/ 2022 we recorded 21 75 incidents of vandalism and cable theft, and 193 arrests were made.
There has been an increase in the previous years, and as a result, since the start of the current financial year (2022/ 2023), City Power has thus far had 2 242 incidents of vandalism and cable theft, and 255 arrests made.
Confronted with the claims from angry residents in terms of a long-term solution, City Power said that they will continue to increase resources that will regularly inspect and crack down on illegal connections to deal with theft and loss of assets across the city.
“Illegal connections are unfair to all paying residents whose power is constantly interrupted because of non-payers who overload the system and cause it to crash. This causes inconvenience to all the households and businesses that pay for their electricity,” City Power concluded.
