City Power had to abandon their plan to disconnect illegal connections in Tshepisong, West Rand on Thursday after police warned them of the volatile situation they will find themselves in should they go ahead.
This comes after the police's risk assessment revealed that officials would not be safe from the angry community that had been making threats and had even held them hostage the previous week when they were removing illegal connections.
So, today was supposed to be the day when we do this illegal connections cut-off, but the police have just told us that the threat is too high and also that they do not have enough manpower to escort or to protect city power technicians
— Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson
The power utility's spokesperson Isaac Mangena said police informed them that the risk is too high and they, as the SAPS, don’t have sufficient manpower.
“So, today was supposed to be the day when we do this illegal connections cut-off, but the police have just told us that the threat is too high and also that they do not have enough manpower to escort or to protect city power technicians.
Last week, City Power officials went to Tshepisong phase 7 to remove illegal connections and also do maintenance but came under attack from residents who held them hostage.
They had to quickly leave the area, but their plan to resume with the operation on Thursday could not continue.
The entity will go back to the community on August 5 to resume the disconnections.
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