Stern warning for power thieves in KZN
Ixopo ward councillor, Nicholas Mdunge has told residents in the area that deaths as a result of these connections should not be the only thing that deters people from committing crimes.
He was speaking at Eskom’s National Electricity Safety Week initiative in Highflats yesterday.
17 deaths have been reported in KwaZulu-Natal in the last financial year, with 25 injuries.
Mdunge says the electrification process has been delayed mostly because of issues around land ownership.
''We've been asking local farmers to give us more land but the problem was that their costs were too high and as a result as the municipality we couldn't afford it.
''However, I'm please to tell you that we have come to an agreement with the farmers and they are willing to drop their prices to affordable costs and we're very excited about that,'' he said.
Eskom’s KZN representative, Dadi Mbele has urged South Africans to be patient as there is a plan in place to electrify households.
''If people can just wait - we have survived without the electricity before and we're not saying it's okay for some people to live without electricity but there's a plan in place. They must just give us more time,'' she said.
(Photos: Zongile Mthimkhulu)