Residents of Mabopane demonstrated, accusing the power company of allegedly “lying” when it claimed that the community was hostile toward its workers sent to restore the electricity.
Residents of Mabopane ran out of patience with Eskom yesterday after enduring a week without electricity and learning that the company had suspended services as a result of violent protests in the community.
Mabopane community leader, Mr Tshepo Montoedi, said his section was initially disconnected by angry residents from Slovo in Winterveldt after Eskom refused to assist them in reconnecting their electricity due to high levels of illegal connections in that area.
“Eskom made the decision to carry out a community audit to find homes that were evading meters and those utilizing unauthorized electricity tokens. Because the entire neighborhood was left without electricity, this caused increasing frustration.
“We told Eskom that when they come here to reconnect our community, we are going to escort them to show them that it is safe to work here. In fact, we stated that we are ready to talk to them so that individuals who have committed crimes can arrange for payment because good people shouldn’t have to suffer because of bad people. Here, we are rearing kids. We manage enterprises. This is wrong,” he said.
A resident, Mr Thabo Magwaza, said Eskom was playing political games and agitating local communities. Residents of Lebanon purchased electricity after a protracted period without electricity. Because people were not paying, there were no attempts to re-establish the connections,” he said,
Another resident, Tshego Makgabo, said “to curb the illegal behavior, Eskom must visit every home to establish the legal connections, else, violence in the communities will continue.”
The community claimed that over time, as Eskom continued its blanket punishment, more law-abiding residents would lose access to electricity nationwide which would have an impact on the ANC administration.
EFF leader in Tshwane, Obakeng Ramabodu, penned a letter calling on Eskom to restore power to these communities and stop the ill-treatment of residents.
In the letter, he said “The EFF demands that the Tshwane municipality take over the provision of energy in the Winterveldt and Mabopane region in addition to Eskom’s inefficiency. This will make it simpler to respond to power outages with the necessary urgency. The municipality should supply power in the same ways that it provides water and some of its subpar sanitary services. Additionally, because of their poverty, residents of these villages can easily be included in the municipality’s indigent household program.” He said.
In addition, Ramabodu stated that “the party had assembled a legal team, under the direction of its regional deputy chairperson Leofi Leshabana, to challenge Eskom in assisting people in gaining access to fundamental services. By late yesterday, Eskom had not responded to a litany of inquiries about the situation.