Living dangerously: Chest-freezer, beds, wardrobe & stove in substation

A Johannesburg mother and her four children were evicted from a transformer substation they had occupied and turned into a home.

According to the department of environment and infrastructure services, the family, believed to be from Zimbabwe, had occupied a 11Kv high voltage transformer substation chamber in Randburg. It was not clear how long they had been staying in the chamber.

The discovery was made on Monday during operation #Kleena Joburg.

Items found inside the chamber included a chest freezer, beds, a wardrobe and stove.

“The problem of homelessness is big in the City of Johannesburg because of the lack of economic opportunities available. While the situation we found is a sad one, it's a very dangerous one and there are even children involved. But the biggest concern is the illegality and vandalism that happened for them to be in there in the first place. That is why we had to save them by evicting them,” said MMC for environmental and infrastructure services Mpho Moerane.

City Power has over 18,000 transformer chambers across Johannesburg.

Moerane said the chambers were being phased out as most of them were old.

According to the department, three people who had occupied some of the chambers had been electrocuted.

Moerane said she would be engaging the social development department and other authorities to assist the family with a place to stay and other social needs.

During the #Kleena Joburg operation, several businesses were found to have illegally connected electricity, with a furniture shop and upholstery business closed for trading illegally.

The MMC said the operations would be intensified across business centres throughout the city.

“It's simple: businesses can afford to pay for services, and they need to come on board and assist the city in revenue collection. If they don't pay for services, we will come to them and assist them in ensuring they pay,” Moerane said.

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