Residents of Diepsloot township in Johannesburg have blamed Eskom for connecting electricity illegally in the township. This comes as Eskom cut off illegal electricity connections in the area today. The power utility said the township's illegal connections have significantly strained the power grid, causing frequent outages and extensive damage to infrastructure. 

BLAMING IT ON ESKOM

The ward councillor who spoke on behalf of the community said residents' resort to illegal connections because they are frustrated by not having electricity for weeks on end. The councillor saids when the transformers in the township are damaged, it takes the power utility time before they fix them, resulting in residents buying new ones from private companies. "There are reasons why residents have connected electricity illegally. Our environmental condition in this area is not ideal and it's not safe for us to live in the dark. These illegal transformers that are found in Diepsloot are a result of Eskom not responding to us on time. There are high levels of crime in our area and it's worse when it's dark, so residents contribute money to get transformers from private companies to connect to Eskom property, "he said. The councillor said they know every procedure to follow when electricity trips but said that Eskom delays in responding, hence the decision to buy the transformers themselves.

ILLEGALLY CONNECTED 

Eskom spokeswoman, Amanda Qithi, explained that they are targeting about 60 illegally connected transformers that they are going to remove in the township. "These transformers are illegally connected to our network. As you can see here, we have transformers that are too close to each other; we would never do that because it's risky," she said. There was a heavy police presence in the area, which included JMPD, SAPS, Red Ants and private security. This is because Eskom officials were previously threatened with violence when they attempted to disconnect the area.