Residents of Zandspruit, west of Johannesburg, say they are being forced to pay for basic services through an alleged illegal utility network that has operated in the area for years, with those who refuse to pay facing threats of disconnection.
Community members report that unknown individuals visit households monthly to demand payment for unlawful water and electricity connections. According to residents, the practice has been ongoing for up to a decade in some cases.
“For him personally, he has been experiencing this for five years because he has been living in this area for the past five years. But for some people, they have been paying for 10 years, almost 10 years or even over 10 years,” a reporter on the scene explained, citing a local source.
More than 50,000 people live in the area. Residents say those who fail to pay face immediate disconnection, raising fears of service delivery failure and significant safety risks, particularly from fires.
Utility Providers Respond Differently
City Power told reporters they have nothing to do with the situation, instead directing inquiries to Eskom as the responsible entity.
Johannesburg Water, however, acknowledged awareness of the broader challenge. In a statement, the utility said: “As part of ongoing efforts to address this, the entity conducts regular disconnection operations typically on a monthly basis in collaboration with JMPD.”
But residents dispute this claim. When asked about the statement, a local source told reporters the described disconnection operations are “actually not true.”
Questions Remain Over Accountability
With City Power deferring to Eskom and Johannesburg Water acknowledging illegal connections while residents deny regular disconnections occur, confusion persists over which entity bears responsibility for service provision and revenue collection in the area.
One resident told reporters that “service delivery” is a word they only hear from the media and on radio or television, not something they experience.
Reporters on the ground indicated they would later seek comment from community leaders to determine whether residents know the identities of those running the illegal network and what steps are being taken to hold them accountable.
The situation has left the community effectively “held at hostage,” according to analysis from the scene, with households caught between illegal demands and an absence of official service delivery.