The Buffalo City Municipality has called on the community to identify the culprits involved in two videos circulating on social media where law enforcement officers are seen tussling with community members over stolen electrical cables.
The metro in a statement released on Tuesday said they were accompanying Revenue Protection officials who conducted an illegal electricity connection raid at the Buffalo pass informal settlement over the weekend.
In the first video, residents are seen removing cables from a municipal vehicle while the second one shows a tussle ensuing between the community and BCM officials.
Metro spokesperson, Samkelo Ngwenya, said that area is currently receiving an illegal 11 kilovolt supply, which is fed from a stolen transformer.
Ultimately, this connection had left surrounding areas of Highway Gardens and local businesses in the dark, he said.
Meanwhile, the statistics presented at the Covid Command Centre on 15 March revealed that 950 illegal electricity lines were removed in that week.
The metro further commended the officials for their bravery and despite being outnumbered they conducted themselves within the law by using minimum force in the form of pepper spray and only resorted to drawing a firearm when the situation escalated.
