Major South African city cracking down on illegal electricity

The Tshwane Metro Police and Electricity departments confiscated several transformers worth R800,000 from the Marry Me informal settlement on Monday, according to the South African Police Services (Saps).

This was part of an operation to reduce crime, enforce the law, and enhance visible policing in identified hotspot areas.

“Illegal electricity connections are not only unlawful, but also extremely dangerous,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.

“These makeshift setups frequently cause electrical fires, pose serious risks of electrocution, and place additional strain on the power grid, often leading to widespread outages that disrupt essential services such as clinics, schools, and businesses.”

Saps has urged community members to report such connections, “as they endanger lives and undermine legitimate service delivery.”

Eskom highlighted illegal connections as a primary contributor to the need for load reduction in specific areas due to overloading.

This overloading is caused by a disproportional demand for electricity on a localised network, which can cause significant damage to infrastructure, such as transformer explosions.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said that, as a result, electricity is cut off in certain areas during peak hours.

Energy and electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa recently provided details about how illegal connections are causing repeated power outages at schools in the Western Cape.

“The Inkazimlo Primary School has been experiencing repeated faults due to illegal connections, as a result of the community from the informal settlement directly connecting to the Eskom connection,” the minister stated.

“This results in the Low Voltage (Morsdorf) fuses blowing up and thus, affecting the school.”

He added that the Customer Network Centre would explore the option of relocating the transformer to the school’s premises.

Ramokgopa said a similar move at the Noxolo Xauka Primary School in Eskom’s 2022/23 financial year had solved the school’s power challenges.

Eskom calling for backup

Ramokgopa also revealed that Eskom and its partners must deploy Saps resources in high-risk areas with illegal connections before its technicians can disconnect them.

This is due to the high risk of Eskom’s employees being violently attacked by community members trying to protect their illegal collections.

“Eskom security departments have established security contracts which include escorting Eskom employees intending to execute work in high-risk areas and the removal of illegal connections on a small scale,” the Minister said.

Eskom’s security department first conducts a risk assessment by scanning areas with illegal connections for potential threats before deploying teams to remove the connections.

“Once the security department has concluded the threat and risk assessment, the SAPS District Commanders are approached to initiate plans and mobilise resources to protect Eskom employees,” said Ramokgopa.

Saps District Commanders’ offices lead the planning of such operations with the help of the District Public Order Policing.

Eskom, City Power, and law enforcement took on a large-scale illegal electricity operation in December 2024.

The team uncovered the operation on a farm in Leeupoort, Gauteng, serving over 600 informal households. Eskom estimated that the operation cost more than R6.6 million in lost revenue.

“Intelligence investigations uncovered that stolen electrical equipment was being used to supply electricity illegally to nearby informal settlements in exchange for payment,” it said.

The joint operation raided three houses on the farm, which Eskom said were heavily guarded. The teams recovered critical infrastructure, including two transformers and 150-meter boxes belonging to Eskom and City Power.

“The suspect was charged with tampering with essential infrastructure and malicious damage to property, including illegal redistribution and resale of electricity,” the power utility added.