Protea South Municipal Clinic health workers say they are outraged by the number of cases in which residents have illegally connected electricity from the clinic into their homes.
Staff say the constant electricity trips hamper their ability to treat patients at the clinic.
Gauteng Finance MEC Barbara Creecy was briefed about the illegal connections during an imbizo in Soweto yesterday.
Walking through the informal settlement in Protea South, council officials pointed to the sky to show Creecy the illegal wiring in the township.
Residents have built up their own electricity poles with tree barks.
Stolen electricity transformers are attached to the bark and the wiring extends into the shacks.
Creecy says she will be in talks with Eskom and all relevant MECs to launch an investigation.
“I will be interacting with the MEC of safety about what I’ve seen today. It does pose a tremendous hazard to the community,” said Creecy.
The clinic is now using a generator when the power goes out but the machine cannot provide power for a full day.
