Johannesburg’s City Power has disconnected over 15 foreign-owned spaza shops in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg.
The spaza shops were found to have bypassed electricity meters. City Power says its operation is aimed at clamping down on illegal electricity connections.
The utility says since the start of winter, it has been experiencing high electricity consumption levels, threatening to damage infrastructure and collapse the grid.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says, “The problem of backyard businesses is also proving to be a major concern because the majority of the homeowners avoid making the necessary applications to the City to get the businesses properly authorised. And, to have services upgraded that cater for the business requirements. And this is the problem we encountered in Eldorado Park during the cut-off. We know that it is happening across the City mostly in townships.”
City Power switches off electricity payment defaulters in Eldorado Park
