Eskom is planning to ignore areas within Gauteng that experience constant power failures due to illegal connections and meter tampering.
However, before the entity implements this action, it has appealed to the communities of Gauteng to stop illegal connections as the entity has experienced an increase in the number of repeated equipment failures in some areas.
It indicated in the statement that these power failures are primarily due to illegal connections leading to overloading, which result in the failure of transformers and mini-substations. This is exacerbated by meter tampering, electricity theft and vandalism of infrastructure.
Also Read:
https://roodepoortrecord.co.za/2017/11/29/man-disconnecting-illegal-connections-electrocuted/
Zooming inside the province, Roodepoort in the City of Johannesburg is one of many areas that have been guilty of illegal connections and cases of cable theft.
The statement also stipulated the problem about the scourge. “Increased equipment failure has a significant negative impact on our operations, finances and safety of our employees and the public.”
“Eskom has taken a decision that it will not be restoring power to areas that have repeated failures due to illegal connections, meter tampering and bypassing. Eskom will only restore supply to legal and paying customers in the areas, on condition that the community allows safe access to Eskom staff to conduct audits and remove illegal connections.”
“If we do not run audits, we run the risk of continued failures without dealing with the root cause. In some areas, Eskom technicians have not been allowed to conduct these audits, which result in repeated failures of equipment making power restoration a wasteful exercise,” the statement read.
The decision comes after extensive customer and various stakeholder engagements across the Gauteng aimed at resolving issues related to electricity services.
Eskom’s group executive for distribution, Monde Bala, added, “Eskom will continue to engage with councillors in all affected areas to deal adequately with these issues. Furthermore, Eskom would like to affirm its commitment to collaborate and engage with various communities to find solutions so that we can resume our services. I thank and applaud paying customers for their continued commitment to paying for services that they can use,” he said.
Lastly, he appealed to communities to report illegal connections and meter tampering, including those in which Eskom employees are involved, to the Eskom Crime Line – 0800 11 2722.
