WATCH: ‘Eskom has failed us’ – Load shedding could kill Soweto teen

Tholoana Sewpal’s son has an asthma condition so serious that when he has a severe attack, the only thing keeping him from having to be taken to hospital is a nebuliser.

But in load shedding, it doesn’t work. And calling an ambulance is also out of the question because they don’t come to Soweto when the lights are out, she says.

Eskom’s rolling blackouts are threatening the life of her child. Even relating the story reduced her to tears.

“Eskom has failed us. People should not have go for days without electricity, let alone months without it. I have to make sure that my son is always warm due to his condition but I can’t, because they’ve made it clear that we do not deserve electricity.”

ALSO READ: Soweto residents plead with Eskom to switch on their lights

Power outages in Soweto

Thousands of residents in different parts of Soweto woke up to yet another day of darkness yesterday. Several roads remained closed, following renewed protests by angry residents in Dube and Pimville, with many residents gathered around the flaming tyres.

Residents shut down the Michael Maponya Clinic in Pimville Zone 1 and claimed that the medical facility could not continue operating as normal as it didn’t have electricity.

A resident, Pumzile Jiyani, said the community was divided because even though they had established a consensus with Eskom that things shouldn’t be “normal as usual”, they had to prove to the government their situation was unbearable.

“We have thrown out our food because our fridges don’t work but every time we have a power cut, the matron in the clinic lights up the generator to power the clinic and life goes on as usual,” she said.

“We are glad the patients were transferred to another clinic nearby to get their medication because they are also part of the community, but what we won’t allow is for the government to prioritise others, while it neglects the rest of us.”

Meanwhile, a small business owner in Soweto said although he felt the financial squeeze due to Covid-19, his kota or bunny chow business could not survive the electricity crisis in Soweto.

Ezekiel Hangwane said after being retrenched as a breadwinner his kota business was the one supporting the whole family, but with the power cuts he has had a hard time making ends meet.

“I bought a gas stove for business last year in December, following the constant blackouts,” Hangwane said.

“But because of blackouts, we also had to use it at home to make sure that my newborn baby could have his milk and my grandmother her medication, so I had to close down the business because I wasn’t coping any more.”

He said the money was coming in slowly and realised that he couldn’t afford to buy gas every second day as it was really expensive. Hangwane said they had been without power for 11 months. As the smoke from the burning tyres filled the air, more residents blocked the streets with dustbins and bathtubs.

“Unfortunately, there is nothing else we can do because our government only understands this language. When we try to engage with them, we are sent from pillar to post.”

Residents had been without power for more than a year in some areas. Another resident, Nandi Tshabalala, said the power cuts had taken a lot from their community.

“For some people it might seem like we are exaggerating but many old people in our community have died from this cold weather. One was even injected with an expired insulin as a result of living without electricity for 11 months,” she said.

Tshabalala claimed that while Eskom had the money to maintain generators which powered a cellphone tower at Pimville Primary, they had failed to power up the school for the children to use their tablets and even have food.

reitumetsem@citizen.co.za