Guard killed in illegal connections row

The battle between the eThekwini Municipality and those with illegal electricity connections has turned deadly after a security guard was killed.

The battle between the eThekwini Municipality and those with illegal electricity connections has turned deadly after a security guard was killed.

Published Jul 21, 2011

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The battle between the eThekwini Municipality and those with illegal electricity connections has turned deadly after a security guard – hired to protect city workers – was killed.

Wiseman Mthombeni, 38, of Hammarsdale, had been an employee of Thathe Security Services for only two months when he was gunned down at an informal settlement in Maynard Road in Sea Cow Lake, Durban.

eThekwini Municipality department of electricity head, Sandile Maphumulo, said the problem had snowballed over the years and residents who had illegal connections were becoming more violent towards municipal workers tasked with disconnecting these connections. Residents living near informal settlements connected illegally to their network were also being affected, with some complaining of daily electricity cuts.

Affected areas include Sydenham (Candover Road), Kennedy Road, Reservoir Hills and Foreman Road (Clare Estate).

Maphumulo said people living in informal settlements need to understand that it was wrong for them to steal this service from residents who were paying for it.

“People living in shacks need this (electricity), which is why we have been engaging with the Department of Energy Affairs, trying to get them (informal settlements) electrified,” he said.

Maphumulo said Energy Affairs, through its National Electrification Advisory Committee (NEAC), was formulating a policy for the electrification of informal settlements.

“We will electrify these areas subject to compliance with this policy,” he said.

Maphumulo said the NEAC would meet in August to discuss the policy.

He said that until a formal decision was taken, the issue of illegal connections would be a daily headache for the city.

“I wish the law becomes tougher on those connecting illegally because they are causing all these problems,” he said.

Maphumulo said the city had about 400 informal settlements and about 2 700 households living in each of these settlements.

“Even if we do decide to electrify informal settlements, how long will it take to electrify all of them and which one do we start with. The challenge is bigger than people think,” he said.

For ratepayers like Anjini Bhudar, who lives in Sydenham, daily electricity cuts, which began in March, have affected the way they live. She said she and her neighbours experience outages between 6.30pm and 10am.

“Our greatest problem is that the municipality wants to put the blame on the shackdwellers, but the responsibility is theirs. Their job is to supply electricity and the fact that someone is interfering with our network should not be my burden to carry,” she said.

She said six of her neighbours were also affected.

Vaneshree Govender, who lives in Foreman Road, Clare Estate, said they had an understanding with residents from the nearby informal settlement and disconnected the illegal connections themselves.

“There is no conflict, they (the shackdwellers) understand that what they are doing is wrong. We are not fighting with them, we are fighting the municipality and they understand that,” she said.

She said removing the illegal connections and engaging with the shackdwellers had helped with constant power cuts.

She said despite the communication between those who have and the have nots, the situation was still tense.

“Now we expect the city to look beyond policy and paper … they have to look at what is happening on the ground,” she said. -Daily News

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