Thembelihle electrification project nearing completion

12 July 2017

 

Endless power outages and illegal electricity connections are soon to become a thing of the past for residents of Thembelihle informal settlement in Lenasia, southern Johannesburg.

 

The project to electrify more than 6 500 units in the informal settlement – which started in the 2016-2017 financial year and carried out by City Power, the City of Johannesburg’s electricity utility – is nearing completion.

Residents are expected to be legally, safely and cleanly connected to the power grid by the end of August 2017.
City Power spokesperson Virgil James says the move will improve the residents’ quality of life, open up economic opportunities and restore their dignity.

The project forms part of the City of Johannesburg’s ongoing efforts to curb illegal power connections and electricity theft by residents who have no access to the national grid.

Illegal connections are rife in informal settlements such as Thembelihle, often leading to the overloading of the network and posing a risk to residents.

About 6 500 of the 8 000 stands in Thembelihle were until now connected illegally to nearby electricity boxes and street lights. The informal settlement is believed to have 20 000 shacks and residents pay anything between R50 to R80 to izinyoka (electricity thieves) as a once-off fee to have their homes illegally connected to the power grid, often with deadly consequences.

Cable theft is another challenge City Power is faced with. It is estimated that the scourge costs the South African economy more than R5-billion a year. In a bid to curb cable theft in Johannesburg, City Power spends more than R267-million a year to replace copper cables with Aerial Bundled Conductors (ABC).

James says the power utility has also taken precautionary measures to curb illegal connections. These include mobilising technicians in teams per area and allocating a transformer zone per team.

City Power is also working with Eskom to electrify the Marlboro transit camp and organic market in north eastern Johannesburg. The City’s Housing Department is aligning, and marking and creating streets in the area before the electrification project could start.