It was a new start for parts of the Khayelitsha informal settlement in Motherwell on Wednesday as the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality disconnected illegal connections and installed metered electricity boxes.
The community has for years been hit by illegal electricity-related deaths and injuries.
In October, a woman died.
Electricity and energy political head Lance Grootboom, along with officials, completed the first phase of the project which benefited 214 families.
The R10m project initially started in July. The metro has 600 more homes to electrify.
Resident Nandipha Ndlela said they had resorted to illegal connections after the municipality made no effort to install legal connections.
She said there had been many incidents of people being electrocuted and shacks going up in flames due to illegal connections.
“We used to sleep with one eye open, but we need electricity.
“We had no choice but to connect illegally.” .
She said she was grateful the legal connections would make life easier for them.
Grootboom said they had discovered residents were paying for illegal connections.
“The aim and purpose of this project is to give back dignity to the people, and an affordable and sufficient uninterrupted electricity supply,” he said.
“We already have infrastructure installed to cater for the remaining 600 shacks.
“What is outstanding are the meter boxes for inside the houses.
“We will come back soon and connect the remaining homes, as we know electricity is a basic need.
“We want to complete the entire project by the end of the financial year to ensure that our people have a safe and stable electricity supply in winter.
“We thank them for their patience, and we hope they will enjoy this service responsibly,” he said.
The project was welcomed by Ward 55 councillor Thanduxolo Doda.
“This has been a crisis with power tripping and transformers exploding, due to the high volume of illegal connections.
“Last year, a mother died due to illegal connections.”
HeraldLIVE