Local Government, Environ-mental Affairs and Development Planning
Regarding the meeting that took place between the George Municipality and its Electro-technical Services Committee on 5 April 2022 where the Committee revealed that a total of 1 085 illegal electricity connections were removed in the month of February alone:
(i) (a) What did the 1 085 illegal connections cost the Municipality in rand and (b) which other municipalities in the province currently have programmes in place to cut illegal electricity connections;
(2) whether there are plans in place to provide alternative power sources to the informal settlements; if so, what are these plans?
[1] [a] The cost of removal of the illegal connections were R300 150. Lost income due to the illegal connections to the municipality is estimated at R1 450 000 per year. The implication of the removal of illegal connections are that:
- safety risks to the community can be mitigated,
- revenue enhancement is promoted,
- residents can be placed on the indigent register and be eligible to access to free basic electricity, and
- more reliable/less interruption of service delivery can be assured, since the overloading of infrastructure, as a result of the high concentration of illegal connections, can be minimised.
[b] All municipalities in the province have programmes to remove illegal connections on a continuous basis, as part of an integrated and sustainable financial, operational and technical management approach. Through this strategy, safety risks are mitigated throughout the province.
[2] Yes. Informal settlements are provided with electricity through the development of new housing projects, including provision of pre-paid electricity connections, or in situ upgrading where services are provided to homes. An example of such a project where in situ upgrading is currently being used, is in “Area 8C” in Thembalethu in the George municipal area.
