A surge in electricity theft in Durban is expected over the festive season, leaving families unable to cook, defrosting their fridges and turning off twinkling Christmas lights.
There have been reports this week from the Bluff, Phoenix, Springfield and Sea Cow Lake about power outages and electricity surges, with fed-up residents saying the holiday season ahead may be spent in the dark.
In the past year most other suburbs in the city have been hit by massive surges and lengthy outages because of electricity and cable theft.
The Chairman of eThekwini’s infrastructure committee, ANC councillor Visvin Reddy, confirmed previous patterns had shown an increase in cable and electricity theft at this time of year.
“We understand the frustration of these citizens who have paid for their services and end up having more days with no power a month than days with a working power supply.
“In terms of strategic intervention, the city has spent about R90 million in providing electrification to informal settlements, we have run numerous awareness campaigns and brought in police enforcement.
“The electrification project means there is no need to steal electricity and any theft of electricity in these areas is criminal. I have complaints coming into my office every day and we are going to investigate other serious interventions to address this problem,” said Reddy.
Muhammad Hoosen from Springfield, which is next to Morningside, said since last Wednesday, illegal electricity connections had been reported daily, there had been three power failures, multiple small explosions and three confrontations between residents and people stealing power.
“My stove and fridge have either blown or had power surges in separate incidents. Now we are coming into the holiday season when there are going to be a lot more people on leave and there will be chaos – tempers are going to rise,” said Hoosen.
“It is also dangerous because children are home from school and playing around hanging live wires. Cable is stolen and within 10 minutes of it being replaced, it is stolen again. I pay full rates like many others for poor services.”
Another Springfield resident, who did not want to be named for fear of being attacked by electricity thieves, said his appliances were being affected by electricity surges daily and he had had to get his washing machine and microwave oven fixed.
This follows reports from furious Bluff residents after a power outage in the area which left televisions smoking and affecting air conditioners, DStv decoders, fridges and washing machines, while Phoenix had a power outage that started on Wednesday morning and went on for at least 24 hours.
DA councillor for Springfield George Devenish said there was no easy solution to the theft of electricity. “There have been children electrocuted which is deeply concerning and any complaint made to me will be taken up immediately.
“It’s important to remember that there are more than 400 000 people living in informal settlements in our city and we must be mindful there are people who are living with empty stomachs. Councillors from across the political divide are trying to find a solution to this,” said Devenish. - Independent on Saturday