Johannesburg Hijacked Building Tenants Prevent City Power Workers From Cutting Illegal Connections

• Johannesburg's City Power had to halt its operation of removing illegal electricity connections in the CBD
• City Power planned on disconnecting hijacked buildings' electricity in Jeppestown that owe the city millions
• South Africans on social media are disappointed the huge crowd of tenants scared the workers away

JOHANNESBURG- City Power in Johannesburg has been forced to discontinue its efforts to remove illegal electricity connections in the CBD due to tenant intimidation.

Unpaid electricity bills

The municipal power company had focused its efforts on four hijacked buildings in Jeppestown, claiming the buildings owed the city almost R20 million in unpaid electricity bills. According to SABCNews, the last recorded payment was made in 2017.

City Power's strategic plan

Read also

SASSA: Lindiwe Zulu blames Postbank for grant payments delay, Mzansi stunned

Isaac Mangena, the spokesperson for City Power, has indicated that they plan to resume their operation in the coming weeks.

Mangena said they have identified several buildings that they intend to target soon. He added that they had the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) assisting in the operation, but their presence proved inadequate, and the agitated crowd outnumbered them.

SA discuss the Joburg CBD confrontation

Mbuso Mavi mentioned:

"This is very simple, just disconnect everything and leave them without power."

Brenden Mmamaila wrote:

"The ANC has driven this perception of giving people free services, even services which require money they give them. People now feel like it's their right to have unpaid bills."

Read also

City of Joburg’s crackdown on hijacked buildings leads to arrest of councillor and 23 others, Mzansi furious

Elijah Tau Maps asked:

"Couldn't they call back up, that was just a small fracture of tenants."

Molebatsi Mo Nemo asked:

"And where are JMPD and SAPS when such happens?"

@Pogisho Motsumi commented:

"SAPS and Red Ants must get involved."

Kwanele Lennox Bacela added:

"Foreigners are doing as they please in Joburg."

Joburg new mayor's 1st act in office helps City Power recover R10m through power-cutting operation

In another article, Briefly News reported that the City of Johannesburg may have broken a record on Wednesday, 1 February after a power-cutting operation resulted in the recovery of R10 million.

The operation, which took place in the Roodepoort area, was led by the metro's recently elected mayor, Thapelo Amad and electricity distributor, City Power.

Source: Briefly News