How to spot and report illegal electrical connections

1 min read

An electricity connection is considered illegal when its wires are connected to the local municipality’s grid network without the permission of the local municipality. Johannesburg City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says that offenders can expect to be fined anywhere from R10 000 to R50 000 for illegal connections, and that there has been an incident where a customer was fined R1 million for tampering with Johannesburg City Power infrastructure. He went on to say that 18 000 customers who have been cut off from the grid owe the city R1.5 billion. It is also estimated that the city loses an average of R2 billion a year due to illegal connections, meter tampering, theft of electricity and vandalism.

How do I spot illegals connections?

• Look out for sub-standard wiring – wires that are not supposed to be used to transmit electricity e.g. speaker wires, wires that belong on gardening supplies (lawnmowers), or any other wires that look out of place.

• Different colour wires – different coloured wires that are connected to each other, one wire with different colours on it, or different coloured wires that are connected to the same electricity pole and bare different colours are also signs of illegal connections. The standard wires used by Eskom are black in colour, whereas illegal wires can range from red, green, white, blue to many more.

• Lack of insulation – anything used to connect wires other than insulation tape e.g. sellotape, masking tape, cable ties.

• Tapping – the addition of a new wire to a present branch circuit to deliver power for extra loads. Double tapping is when two new wires are added in the same manner. 

How do I report illegal connections?

Eskom’s toll free crime line: 0800 11 27 22

Send an anonymous SMS to SA Crime Line: 32211

Joburg anonymous reporting line: 0800 002 587

SAPS: 10111

Illegal electrical connections are dangerous, promote theft, costly for taxpayers, and result in power outages that could last days. Please play your part in reporting this crime.

Share your thoughts by replying to this email! Happy electricity safety month!

For more information on illegal electrical connections, or any other energy related articles, stay subscribed and be sure to open my weekly emails every Tuesday at 9am CAT.

Load shedding is currently suspended.

Get your load shedding schedules here: Municipal Loadshedding schedules - Distribution (eskom.co.za)

Latest fuel prices: Fuel Pricing - AA

Nigerian electric scooters: (74) Nigerian start-up rolls out eco-friendly e-scooters - YouTube

Why the U.S. solar rollout is slow: (74) U.S. adds less than half its planned solar capacity - YouTube

Coal plants converted to solar: (74) Former coal plants start new life as solar plants - YouTube