CoCT condemns incidents of electricity vandalism and illegal connections in the Mfuleni area.

The City of Cape Town has condemned the most recent incidents of electricity vandalism and illegal connections in the Mfuleni area.

The City says it has attended to more than 72 faults in the area so far in June 2022 and disconnects illegal connections to City infrastructure on a regular basis.

‘’This week, we visited Mfuleni to have a look at the extent of vandalism and illegal connections in the area. It is alarming to see the amount of illegal connections and vandalised infrastructure, and we simply cannot allow this to continue,’’ said the Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor, Beverley van Reenen.

‘’Constant repairs of the same vandalised infrastructure is not feasible and unfortunately places significant pressure on City resources and thus affects our residents, who experience outages and insufficient street lighting. When the City disconnects illegal connections, criminals often reconnect and vandalise infrastructure even further, leaving many homes without electricity for extended periods,’’ she added.

The municipality is offering a reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest, confiscation of stolen or illegal goods or the handing-in of illegal or stolen goods.

‘’The City’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department urges residents to help us bring criminals to book by reporting illegal electricity connections to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the City. Illegal connections and damage to electricity infrastructure remain a challenge across the metro, as it often results in constant electricity outages in some areas, including the Mfuleni area,’’ said van Reenen.

Mfuleni is supplied by both Eskom and the City. Eskom is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of its infrastructure, where it supplies electricity within Mfuleni.

‘’We are offering a reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest, confiscation of stolen or illegal goods or the handing-in of illegal or stolen goods. This reward is also applicable to information leading to the arrest of people vandalising, damaging or stealing electricity infrastructure or installing illegal connections. We call on all our communities to stand by us and to work with us to help protect community infrastructure,’’ added van Reenen.

 

Done By: Mitchum George