Electricity theft exposed

The theft of electricity in Windhoek, through the illegal tappings and the bypassing of meters is on the increase, posing a great danger to residents especially those in the informal settlements.

Despite hefty fines slapped on offenders illegally distributing electricity or those who tap electricity through bypassing electrical cable from another source on many occasions, the practise continues unabated.

Residents of Ombili, Havana and parts of the One Nation informal settlement are amongst those reportedly ignorant to the dangers of such connections and possible financial loss to the municipality.

The residents at these settlements, whom the municipality described as stealing electricity, expose themselves and those they illegally supply with electricity all in the name of lighting up their shacks, kiosks or shebeens. Commenting on the fragility of illegal connections, an official from the City of Windhoek (CoW) Electricity Division said that municipality loses millions of dollars through the theft of electricity and the vandalism of or tampering with meters and electricity connections.

Informal settlement residents allegedly bypass electricity meters, in an effort to prevent the circuit breaker from tripping due to overloading caused by the increased load as a result of the theft or unlawful letting of electricity to other households.

The danger of this practice, according to the CoW official, is that the earth-leakage device, which is meant to protect residents in the event of leakage currents, is also bypassed.
Operations Executive at the CoW, Gwen Krotz, told Namibian Sun that “these people steal electricity because they need to use it, they cannot afford to pay for the infrastructure to bring it to them.

“Therefore the CoW, through its electrification projects, covers the cost of infrastructure. The only challenge is the demand that exponentially exceeds the funds available,” Krotz said.

The Operation Executive added that the acts of bypassing cables from electricity meters or that of dubiously distributing electricity to other households is a serious offence.

“It is a serious crime that is rampant and illegal. When found, an offenders’ meter or electrical distribution point is disconnected and should they wish to retain their electricity connections, they are then also charged for the cost for reconnecting.”

Krotz said live and exposed cables that are not installed to standards by a skilled electrician also pose a safety hazard to the public and the users alike, adding that “most of the units are accounted for by the offending distributors who are usually detected by their extremely high unit purchases on the systems.”

click to enlarge UNSKILLED ELECTRICIANS: A group of men illegally tapping electricity at the One Nation settlement. The city of Windhoek has promised stiff action against offenders, ranging from hefty fi nes to imprisonment © Faith Sankwasa