Kicking off the year, Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya joined TMPD by conducting operations aimed at collecting debt and stopping the misuse of municipal services. In their most recent effort, a Tshwane YaTima collection drive saw services disconnected to a hotel and an apartment building they had previously visited in December. The mayor said they returned to the hotel on January 12, which originally owed R600 000, to find that the property was illegally connected to municipal services again.
“In December, we disconnected electricity. They owed the city over R600 000. We were back today because they illegally reconnected without settling the account.
In addition, this property owes over R1-million for water,” Moya said. Another accommodation facility in the CBD received a visit from officials, and power was disconnected as the property owes R2.3-million. On January 13, the teams were in Mamelodi, at Phomolong Informal Settlement, to remove illegal electricity connections.
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Moya said illegal connections have put a massive burden on the metro’s infrastructure and its rate-paying customers. “Residents in formalised housing had suffered for years because of well-established illegal electricity connections that have contributed to numerous substation trips. “Illegal connections not only affect the stability of the electricity grid, but they also pose a danger to residents.
There are over 12 000 shacks in this informal settlement, and we are committed to formalising the electricity supply to this community. “We have already started supplying some informal settlements with legal electricity connections through prepared meters. We can’t allow our residents to live in unsafe conditions,” Moya said.
The operation disconnected and confiscated three illegally connected transformers, along with 48 poles carrying illegal cables. Thousands of households were disconnected from the grid due to the removal of spliced illegal electricity connections.
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