Areas With The Most 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. It is estimated that South African metros lose on average R1-2 billion a year to illegal connections in the form of lost revenue and damages. This equates to about 4-8% of the average metro’s revenue. It is believed that there are crime syndicates that offer illegal connection services for a fee to communities that cannot afford standard electricity.

Here are the areas with the most illegal electrical connections.

Lakeview, Johannesburg – one of the 211 informal settlements that are allegedly taking electricity from City Power illegally. On 4 February 2021 Zoe Sauls, 7, was electrocuted to death after stepping on a live wire while playing in the soccer field of the abandoned Ennerdale Stadium. The area has long been ridden with illegal connections while Eskom promised to return to remove any additional illegal cables that are connected. Nearby Soweto is also seen as a hotspot for illegal electrical connections.

Alexandra, Johannesburg – on 18 February 2021 Johannesburg City Power were forced to pause their removal of illegal connections when members of the community attacked their employees along with the police that were escorting them. The residents burnt tires and used bricks to barricade roads in the area. Illegal connections in Alexandra cost some honest paying residents up to R2 000 a month in fees which are inadvertently charged to them. It is also the cause for many power outages in the area and surrounding areas.

Delft, Cape Town – in July 2021 approximately 300 residents were left without electricity for several days after illegal connections to the power grid damaged key infrastructure causing a power failures. Eskom claims that the areas of Wallacadene, Blue Downs, Phillippi, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Bardale, Mfuleni, Witlands, Du Noon and Atlantis are typically affected in the same way and on the same scale.

Soweto, Johannesburg – Soweto has been experiencing continuous power outages due to illegal connections for more than a decade and things only seem to be getting worse. In September 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa himself had to warn the vibrant community in the south of Johannesburg to end the unlawful action while addressing the community during an election campaign. Illegal connections in Soweto are consistently damaging street lamps and traffic lights, causing them not to function and subsequently costing the city hundreds of millions to repair.

Kraaifontein, Cape Town – This year alone, multiple paying customers have been dumped into the dark due to illegal connections in Kraaifontein. These illegal connections are brought about mostly by the shacks across the railway line which were illegally established. Mayco Member for Energy and Climate Change Phindile Maxiti said that between July 2020 and March 2021 the City of Cape Town has spent upwards of R15.5 million restoring damaged, vandalised and stolen electrical infrastructure.

Zululand, Kwazulu-Natal – although not on the scale of the other areas mentioned in this article, it is worth mentioning. Zululand is a particular district in the province of Kwazulu-Natal with an increasing amount of illegal connections being setup, largely due to the rapid rate at which informal settlements are being erected. In 2016 it was estimated that there were around 90 000 illegal connections in the region.

In 2010 Eskom launched Operation Khanyisa (although it only began to pick up steam in 2016) which aims to target informal settlements, townships, suburbs and even industrial areas to deal with the illegal connections crisis. Today Eskom is also limiting supply to areas with illegal connections as it says that the consumption from these areas is straining the national grid. 

What do you think of these areas with illegal connections? Are there any areas you know of that may have more illegal electrical connections than the ones mentioned above? Share your thoughts by replying to this email!

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