- Last year, Illegal connections cost Eskom billions of rand in revenue, losing R22 billion from non-technical issues.
- Eskom hailed for lessening the intensity of rotational load shedding in recent weeks.
Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has said illegal connections affect the country’s distribution infrastructure and hinder Eskom’s generation capacity. Last year, Illegal connections cost Eskom billions of rand in revenue. This made the struggling power utility lose R22 billion from “non-technical issues”. Ramokgopa said on Monday that illegal connections were placing significant strain on the grid. According to him, addressing the issue of illegal connections is crucial as it affects the energy ecosystem in the country.
“We have made the point that the amount of illegal connections, in addition to posing an immediate physical danger, also puts a significant amount of strain on the distribution infrastructure. The capacity of the distribution infrastructure is a function of the demand. When Eskom and municipalities agree on the notifiable maximum demand, it is a function of just knowing the profile of the people or businesses that will draw from that infrastructure.”
The electricity minister made this known during his weekly media briefing on the Energy Action Plan. He said the electricity theft permeated even to businesses that were cheating Eskom out of its revenue. He added, “The problem of illegal connections does not only concern households, but there are some industries that are not playing their part. They are drawing a lot from the grid, making a significant amount of profit, but failing in their duty. This also includes their obligation to ensure that they pay municipalities and Eskom so that we’re able to maintain the health of electricity provision.
“We do know that there are households and communities that are not in a position to pay. Almost all municipalities have a dispensation in place that accommodates the poor in the form of an indigent programme. This is to ensure that those registered on the indigent register get an allocation of a particular threshold of electricity for free subsidised by the state.” Ramokgopa hailed Eskom for lessening the intensity of rotational load shedding in recent weeks, stating it was a major victory. He added that the return of additional units later this year will boost generation capacity.