These photos show the rampant electricity theft in South Africa

Challenge? its pretty much impossible...

The guys go into the areas with illegal connections and the minute the residents identify what they are there to do they start getting chased and threatened with death and and and.....

From my point of view, just turn the whole damn area off... let the cretins suffer with no electricity.
 
Typical same old, same old ...

Create a helpdesk and number to report these to. Problem taken care of.

Telkom did the same for cable theft reports.

Nobody gave a thought to what they'd actually do with the information.

Sometimes the passing of the responsibility buck "But we request the public to ..." backfires.

Oh yes, it's Sloth Africa. Yawn ...

(Note: I made a typo and my spellchecker understood the issue better than me, so leaving it like that)
 
ToxicBunny said:
Challenge? its pretty much impossible...

The guys go into the areas with illegal connections and the minute the residents identify what they are there to do they start getting chased and threatened with death and and and.....

From my point of view, just turn the whole damn area off... let the cretins suffer with no electricity.
Click to expand...

When PE's Walmer Township made the news for the carnage they caused when the municipality confiscated illegal wires and miscellaneous equipment, it seemed that their complaint was the high cost (R5k or thereabouts) of installing a legitimate electricity meter.

If municipalities replaced illegal connections for free, and dolled it up as a big giveaway program, maybe it could be done? And of course, make a strong effort to tell people that if their connection is tampered with it will cost R5k to fix.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Challenge? its pretty much impossible...

The guys go into the areas with illegal connections and the minute the residents identify what they are there to do they start getting chased and threatened with death and and and.....

From my point of view, just turn the whole damn area off... let the cretins suffer with no electricity.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I used to live very near to the area mentioned, before I retired to the WC. That was 5 years ago, and it had already started to become a problem back then
 
Bryn said:
When PE's Walmer Township made the news for the carnage they caused when the municipality confiscated illegal wires and miscellaneous equipment, it seemed that their complaint was the high cost (R5k or thereabouts) of installing a legitimate electricity meter.

If municipalities replaced illegal connections for free, and dolled it up as a big giveaway program, maybe it could be done? And of course, make a strong effort to tell people that if their connection is tampered with it will cost R5k to fix.
Click to expand...

Won't make a difference....

They start with the "R5k meter install", then it will be the high price of electricity...

The issue will constantly shift as you "fix" the previous one.
 
What exactly did they think would happen?
If you could download a car (though illegal), would you?
For those complaining about this, do you download software illegally? Watch pirated movies?

Unless its affordable or inaccessible, people will steal it.
 
The problem is simple to diagnose:

1) Lack of willpower to report and charge offenders on the part of the electricity providers (Eskom and Municipalities).
2) Lack of enforcement, visible policing, detective work and arrest on the part of the SAPS (how difficult is it to follow a wire to it's end point?)
3) Lack of justice and successful prosecutions (offenders are released on bail never to be seen again, and repeat offences are rife).
4) Lack of proper governance of the entire system (I blame the ANC!).
 
LazyLion said:
The problem is simple to diagnose:

1) Lack of willpower to report and charge offenders on the part of the electricity providers (Eskom and Municipalities).
2) Lack of enforcement, visible policing, detective work and arrest on the part of the SAPS (how difficult is it to follow a wire to it's end point?)
3) Lack of justice and successful prosecutions (offenders are released on bail never to be seen again, and repeat offences are rife).
4) Lack of proper governance of the entire system (I blame the ANC!).
Click to expand...

and...

5) Lack of willpower in dealing with the issue for fear of losing votes in upcoming local elections
 
Set fire to the pylons. That will solve the issue quick.
 
I so want to ride through dunoon in a 10 ton truck fitted with an overhead hook at night and take out all those illegal overhead wires in one go!! :twisted:

but it must grab the wires and rip out all the stolen tv's and laptops and drag them through the street behind the truck :twisted:
 
I run a children's home in Zandspruit and I am plagued by these illegal connections. Firstly, they forever blow up the transformers when they make the connections, leaving me with no electricity for 2 weeks (time it takes Eskom to replace transformer). Secondly, they run the illegal connections across my property making it treacherous for the kids I'm trying to protect. Thirdly, I've had to invest in a generator but can only run it for a few hours every day due to the cost of diesel. I have reported it many times and Eskom has come out from time to time and removed all the illegal wires, but the culprits are up the poles again that same night re-connecting and everything is back within 24 hours. Really hope someone can find a solution.
 
Looks like a nice clean job in comparison to what I saw in Delft.
 
PaulMcK said:
I run a children's home in Zandspruit and I am plagued by these illegal connections. Firstly, they forever blow up the transformers when they make the connections, leaving me with no electricity for 2 weeks (time it takes Eskom to replace transformer). Secondly, they run the illegal connections across my property making it treacherous for the kids I'm trying to protect. Thirdly, I've had to invest in a generator but can only run it for a few hours every day due to the cost of diesel. I have reported it many times and Eskom has come out from time to time and removed all the illegal wires, but the culprits are up the poles again that same night re-connecting and everything is back within 24 hours. Really hope someone can find a solution.
Click to expand...
Hint: Copper prices are high. Since it's your property, you have a limitless cash cow ... ;)

But I hear you. It's not on.
 
PaulMcK said:
I run a children's home in Zandspruit and I am plagued by these illegal connections. Firstly, they forever blow up the transformers when they make the connections, leaving me with no electricity for 2 weeks (time it takes Eskom to replace transformer). Secondly, they run the illegal connections across my property making it treacherous for the kids I'm trying to protect. Thirdly, I've had to invest in a generator but can only run it for a few hours every day due to the cost of diesel. I have reported it many times and Eskom has come out from time to time and removed all the illegal wires, but the culprits are up the poles again that same night re-connecting and everything is back within 24 hours. Really hope someone can find a solution.
Click to expand...


Solar panels, and an off grid inverter. Will get you online during the daytime.
A small battery system plus LED bulbs for evening should suffice.
 
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