Durban - A frustrated Clare Estate resident has had enough of illegal electricity connections and is demanding answers from the city on the way forward.
For more than a decade, Foreman Road resident, Shailendra Matai has been watching how his area has deteriorated by the expanding informal settlement nearby. Matai has witnessed shack dwellers cutting grooves into the tarred road surface on a daily basis with angle grinders so that illegal wires connected to street poles and power boxes can be hidden.
"The road surface on Rosemary Grove and parts of Foreman is now crumbling. I have tried calling 10111 many times but there was no response. Is this act not illegal? Should I just shut my mouth and accept that the only entrance to my home has turned into a major hazard?" Matai stated.
He said the connectors are now so confident of the lack of interest from police that they do it continuously in broad daylight.
"When I drive out, I have to be careful not to knock them over because they will not move while digging the tar. We must drive onto the bank to exit and enter my home. Last week they pointed a gun at me as I drove in, without provocation," Matai said.
"What is the excuse for allowing these repeated attacks on our infrastructure to continue unopposed. This is ridiculous," he said.
Mandla Nsele, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, said the Roads and Stormwater Maintenance Department has become aware of these illegal connections in the vicinity of informal settlements.
"Road repairs can only be conducted once the electricity unit has removed these illegal connections. It has been found that these illegal connections are quickly re-connected as soon as the electricity unit or their contractors leave the area. Attempts are also difficult and need to be planned out with security in mind, as the community tries to stop any repair work from being carried out," Nsele explained.
The eThekwini Municipality’s Revenue Protection Unit conducts daily illegal electricity disconnection operations in the area.
Nsele said during the illegal electricity disconnection operations, exposed electric cables are found hanging in the middle of the road, running across roads and hanging from trees in residents’ properties.
"These are all removed and the wires are confiscated. To ensure that those living in informal settlements have access to basic services, the City has embarked on an informal settlement electrification programme if the land is Municipal-owned and does not have adverse conditions such as being situated on a floodplain or is on a steep gradient," he said.
Nsele said the municipality was making great strides in the electrification of informal settlements which has assisted in the decrease of illegal connections.
Since the start of the 2017/18 financial year, the Municipality has installed electricity in about 20 000 informal households through the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP).