Nkanini families forced to discard rotten food due to power outage
Residents of Nkanini endured days of sleeping in the dark after a transformer burst in the area. Subsequently, the community was forced to throw away food since it had gone rotten due to the electricity outage.
Eskom urged customers to report illegal connections by calling the Eskom crime line on 0800-1127-22.
The residents told Lowvelder Express that the area had been without power since July 28.
On Saturday, a group of angry women said they were upset about having to throw away some of their food, including meat that had been stored in fridges.
“We spent the whole week without electricity and were forced to throw away food. Some of us are unemployed and others have lost their source of income due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Most of us depend on child social grants for survival,” said Thandi Mathebula.
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Another resident, Ntombi Maupa, said they had notified Eskom of the faulty transformer last week. She added that they were left disappointed when the utility’s employees who responded to the call, could not do the repairs because they had allegedly discovered illegal connections in the area.
“The Eskom technicians even went to the houses involved and disconnected the electricity, but still left without fixing the transformer. Why should everyone suffer because of those individuals who don’t buy electricity? What about the residents who buy every month? It is unfair that Eskom lets us suffer due to the actions of others,” she said.
Maupa continued to say that the workers who had been sent out, told them that they would not fix the transformer until all those who owe the company have paid their outstanding bills.
Lowvelder Express called Maupa on Monday morning to find out if power had been restored and she confirmed that they were still without electricity. “Nothing is happening, we are still in the dark,” she said.
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Eskom’s spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Eric Khoza, said, “A 100KVA transformer feeding part of the community failed on
July 29 due to illegal connections in the area. Eskom had to conduct meter audits and also remove the illegal connections before supply could be restored,” he said.
Khoza added that it is standard practice to conduct audits, issue fines and remove all types of illegal elements on the network before replacing a transformer.
“It is unfortunate that paying customers are affected when audits are done on a transformer zone,” he said.
Electricity was only restored in the area on Monday.
