On Wednesday, Oasis Farm residents in Philippi tried to stop City of Cape Town (CoCT) officials from removing illegal power connections, resulting in the use of stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
Also read: Eskom struggles with illegal connections, resulting in more load-shedding
The City’s electricity department and law enforcement officials were met with resistance by residents who say they have been trying to get assistance from CoCT for years to get electricity, EWN reports.
According to the City, the informal settlement is located on privately owned land, and it would need approval from the landowner to provide services.
Upon arrival, the team was met with protests by residents, who stated that the connections could not be cut as some rely on oxygen tanks which run on electricity. The team left and returned in the afternoon with backup from law enforcement.
As CoCT members were cutting the cables, several residents grabbed the equipment and tried to pry it away. This is when stun grenades were fired.
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Councillor Beverley van Reenen, Mayco member for energy, told EWN that the cables that were removed were illegally connected to the City of Cape Town’s kinetic point. ‘It is important that we send a very strong and clear message that illegal connections [are] not okay, it is not acceptable. I want to reiterate, [that] if anybody sees any wrongdoing, please report it.’
‘Our broader communities and our paying customers are suffering because they are the ones who are having to bear the brunt with extended outages.’
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Also read:
Update: Mfuleni residents respond to disconnect of illegal electricity
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