Cape Town, 13 September 2023: Cape Town authorities were escorted by Cape Town Law Enforcement officers and riot police during an operation in the Oasis Farm informal settlement opposite Mitchells Plain to dismantle illegal electricity connections. The residents of the settlement have illegally created connections into the City’s main electricity grid.

South Africa is currently experiencing Stage 6 load shedding, with power blackouts of up to twelve hours. The informal settlement at the Oasis farm is currently not served by utility services from the City as it’s located on private land.

The informal settlement residents tried to stop the cutting of the illegal cables, which resulted in police tossing a stun grenade to push back the crowd. Technical staff then moved around to various other locations to continue disconnecting illegal cables from the grid.