City Power halts operation to cut illegal connections after Alex standoff
River Park residents blocked the main entrance to the community on Thursday morning as City Power officials tried to cut illegal connections in the area.
JOHANNESBURG – City Power abandoned its operation aimed at cutting illegal power connections in Alexandra after residents stopped officials from disconnecting their electricity in River Park.
Officials turned back when residents blocked the main entrance to the community on Thursday morning.
River Park residents blockaded roads earlier with burning tyres and big rocks.
They made it impossible for City Power officials to come in and disconnect power in the community.
The utility’s Isaac Mangena said they recorded a significant increase in illegal power connections in the area.
“We decided to pull out our manpower because of the volatile situation that we are experiencing here. We can also see that the police are really outnumbered.”
This was the second time that City Power attempted to cut off electricity, but residents became hostile once again and officials were forced to retreat.
Mangena said that illegal power connections were causing network overloading, which resulted in power cuts and ultimately costs the utility millions of rand.
WATCH: City Power retreats from intended raid in Alexandra
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