More than 1000 households in the Hardingsdale Farm, Claridge in Pietermaritzburg, were cut off from Eskom’s power grid on Thursday morning. The power utility says the residents owe about R24 million following illegal power connections over the past seven years. Eskom’s Central East general manager, Kevin Pillay, said the removal of the transformers was long overdue.
He said the illegal electricity connections deprived Eskom of the revenue required to sustain and improve service delivery. “We urge communities to pay for the electricity they consume. I thank the South African Police Service and Eskom security teams for their support in removing these illegal connections,” said Pillay.
A mix of formal and informal property arrangements in the area has resulted in residents on the formal side losing water, as ongoing electricity failures have repeatedly stopped their borehole pumps from operating. The Witnessrecently reported that the informal expansion in part of the farm where people have built palacious homes has taken place over the past 15 years without formal municipal approvals. Electricity conditions worsened after some connecting themselves illegally to the Eskom grid, placing heavy strain on the system and causing prolonged outages of up to two weeks at a time.
Read Full Article on The Witness
[paywall]
Pillay said Thursday’s disconnection followed numerous engagements with the stakeholders concerned that failed to yield timely corrective action. He said over the past seven years, the Hardingsdale Farm community has grown to more than 1 000 households.
[/paywall]
All Zim News – Bringing you the latest news and updates.
