The continued struggle over illegal connections and their impact on formal residents' power supply has erupted into violence in a Buffalo City Metro community.
Scenery Park residents were injured and a church and 10 houses vandalised, with at least one of them looted, following clashes with Zibonele informal settlement residents over illegal electricity connections on Tuesday evening.
Tired of continued power outages, Scenery Park residents have taken it upon themselves to disconnect illegal connections which prompted the hostilities.
Last week, one resident from the area in Scenery Park known as Ndancama, said she was threatened that if she continued disconnecting illegal connections, her house would be burned down.
RDP homeowner Nompinda Zoli said she was at home at about 6pm on Tuesday when people threw rocks and empty beer bottles at her house, breaking all the windows and doors.
They stole belongings including her TV and money, and plastic chairs were set alight.
Zoli said she had been threatened on Friday when two boys warned her not to disconnect cables or she would “face consequences”.
“They said if I continued disconnecting the cables, I would find my house in ashes one day,” Zoli said.
One of three injured residents, Thabisa Nkawu, said she was running away from the riot, trying to find a place to hide, when a glass bottle was thrown at her.
“I was trying to find a place to hide and covering my face from stones and bottles that were flying over our heads. Then a bottle ended up breaking my middle finger.”
She was treated in hospital and discharged.
Mbulelo James, who is confined to a wheelchair, said he was preparing supper at about 7pm when a rock came through a window and hit him..
“I was with my partner and child when the rock broke the window and hit my head,” he said.
“I was terrified because the people I was with then ran for their lives, leaving me helpless in my wheelchair.
“What scares me most is not knowing what is going to happen to me should the chaos happen again today.”
A resident of the Zibonele informal settlement, whose name is known to the Dispatch, said when they saw one of their residents being beaten for making a connection on a BCM pole they had to act.
“After the Ndancama residents disconnected the [illegal]connections, there was no need to hit one of our own — that is why we had to come out in numbers to defend ourselves.
“That pole does not even belong to them, it belongs to BCM which serves everyone who lives in East London,” they said.
Ward committee member Nomthunzi Mbiko said on Friday morning she had witnessed Zibonele informal settlement residents physically fighting in front of her house.
“I tried to intervene as it was becoming intense, I then advised the Zibonele community members to delegate people to go to the municipal offices and ask them to solve the electricity issue.”
On Friday afternoon, she saw six men in balaclavas making illegal connections.
“They wanted to move the internet fibre pole, as it supports the electricity pole.
“These men are not from our area, I believe they were fetched from another area.
“I tried speaking to the ward councillor, but she dismissed me and shifted the blame to me, saying I was the one who instigated this ongoing matter, which is not true.”
On Wednesday, the site where the two conflicted communities are separated by a street was filled with broken bottles used as weapons during the Tuesday evening unrest.
Damaged homes were seen, mostly with broken windows and burnt church chairs were piled up near the substation.
The substation, which is non-functioning is located in an enclosed area, behind the Amatola Water building.
BCM spokesperson Bongani Fuzile said the ongoing unrest was between the Zibonele informal settlement and the houses connected to the legal BCM network in Scenery Park.
“Most of these informal settlements were illegally connected to a mini-substation housed within the Amatola Water property in the area.
“However, this mini-substation has since been abandoned as Amatola Water was not able to safeguard it after BCM replaced it more than twice in the previous financial year.”
Fuzile said the metro had engaged with Amatola Water and it was agreed the metro would need to move the mini substation within their premises.
“BCMM Electricity has replaced this mini-substation twice in the past month and in both instances the equipment has failed due to overloading caused by illegal connections. BCMM is attending to this issue.”
Police spokesperson Captain Hazel Mqala confirmed police were aware of the incidents.
“House-breaking and malicious damage to property cases have been opened and an investigation is continuing,” she said.
She said there would be an increased police presence in the area to monitor the situation.
Early in July, there was a similar dispute in Duncan Village where outraged residents demanded that Buffalo City Metro take down a “ticking bomb” distribution transformer that was supposed to supply power to eight homes but instead powered more than 1,000 shacks through illegal connections.
Daily Dispatch
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