Jo’burg cracks the whip on illegal power connections

The City of Johannesburg has taken a strong stance against illegal electricity connections in unlawfully occupied and dilapidated buildings.  According to the municipality’s public liaison officer, Gaynor Mashamaite-Noyce, the city will not tolerate these illegal electricity connections which costs the city millions of rands in revenue every year.

Johannesburg has about 800 to 1000 buildings which are deemed hazardous and many of these have been turned into residential blocks creating the problem of illegal electricity connections.

Ros Greeff, a member of the mayoral committee for infrastructure and environment blamed cable theft and illegal electricity connections for some of the power outages in the city.

Cape Town remain positive about cable theft problem

Despite relatively high cable theft losses in the City of Cape Town they remain positive that their persistent efforts at curbing the scourge will pay off.

According to the city’s JP Smith, Cape Town is doing well in comparison to other areas simply because it has a very coordinated onslaught against copper thieves and metal thieves.

Msunduzi gets tough on illegal connections

Msunduzi municipality has suffered revenue loss amounting to approximately R59-million due to the fact that only 1 000 of the 17 000 customers on prepaid metres are paying for their service, as a result the municipality is about to get tough.

Municipal inspectors will be conducting spot checks over the next few weeks to curb the number of people illegally using the prepaid electricity system.

According to Brian Zuma of Msundunzi municipality, people will have until the end of August to correct the situation, by removing any direct connection and signing an agreement to pay for arrears.

If by the end of August they have not done this then their metres will be removed from their houses beginning on the 1st of September onwards. Zuma also warned that people who don’t take heed to this call to stop illegal electricity connections will be arrested and charged.

Tamper-proof meters for township homes

Eskom has confirmed that it will fit tamper-proof meters to township properties in an effort to curb electricity theft that is costing at least R1,2-billion in lost revenue. Residential customers account for 34% of the theft while businesses, the industrial sector and agriculture accounts for the balance.

Eskom says that these “non-technical losses” account for about 1,5% of the electricity it generates. Non-technical losses include theft in various forms including illegal connections, meter tampering and non-payment for electricity used.

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What's happening at branch level

The SARPA branches have been very active recently and most appear to be well attended. Congratulations to Paul de Vries who is now the vice chairman of the Good Hope branch.

Here is a list of the upcoming SARPA branch meetings:
Eastern Cape – Next meeting is on 18 August.
Good Hope – Next meetings are on 18 August at Koeberg, and on 10 November at Mossel Bay.
KwaZulu Natal – Next meeting on 23 November at Dedema in the Drakensberg.
Limpopo – Next meeting is in November 2011, due to the convention being held in that Province in July.
Gauteng – Will next be meeting on 13 and 14 October outside Johannesburg.
Central Branch - Next meeting will be in Kimberley (dated to be announced soon)