Illegal Electricity Connections Ravage Itireleng Network
15 April 2019
A transformer has burned out due to an overloaded electricity network in Itireleng, leaving residents of the informal settlements, west of Pretoria, in the dark since Friday night, April 12 2019. The cause of the power outage has been attributed to the prohibited illegal connections in the area.
“Drawing more electricity from network than projected and catered for does not only cause power trips and/ or failure, it also causes a great inconvenience to customers who pay for the services”, explained the Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Utility Services, Councillor (Cllr) Abel Tau.
It is estimated that the cost of replacing the blown up electricity components, in the form of 8 transformers, to be around R200 000,00 – excluding installation costs. The management of Region 4 is planning an operation for the removal of illegal connections which will be carried out in the presence of SA police and the City’s metro police.
“The damage to the electricity network is serious and extensive. This situation is totally unacceptable. I will engage the MMC for Community Safety Department to ensure that the disconnection happens soon. In addition, it is about time that those responsible for tapping into the network are arrested and prosecuted”, emphasized Cllr Tau.
“I would like to take this opportunity to request all our customers who are affected by the blackout to be patient and allow the technicians to restore power in the area without interruption”, appealed Tau.
Power supply to the Itereleng informal settlements is expected to be restored sometime during the week.
All electricity network points to be treated as live at all times.
Residents are encouraged to report power failures at all times in order to establish if all areas that were affected by power failure are restored upon switching back on. Power failures must be reported at 0123589999 all hours.
Issued by Group Communication, Marketing and Events Department.