Illegal connections plunge Louisiana residents in darkness
Eskom is aware that the Louisiana area is compounded by illegal connections.
Some residents in Louisiana, near Umtentweni, have been off the Eskom grid for the past 22 days and counting. These paying customers are victims of illegal connections that led to an Eskom transformer blowing up.
One resident, who didn’t want to be named, fearing for his and his family’s lives, said it’s been a nightmare living in darkness for so long.
Besides all the refrigerated items they had to throw away, safety was their main priority.
“Living in darkness and not being able to have any lights on poses a huge security risk at night. The entire area is in darkness, and we are not receiving any help from Eskom. How much longer must we live in fear? I recently purchased a generator, but the fuel is too costly just to run some lights and the fridge at home. My neighbours and I have done all we could with Eskom, and there’s nothing they can do to restore the power soon,” he said.
According to Eskom spokesperson Joyce Zingoni, an audit was done when the transformer blew for the first time in Louisiana.
“This transformer supplies 16 customers, and out of the 16, only nine are buying electricity – the rest are zero buyers. The area is compounded by illegal connections. Eskom Customer Network Centre was busy on Tuesday conducting another audit to ensure that all those customers who are not buying electricity are issued with tamper fines and illegal connections are disconnected, which is leading to transformer overloading. Unfortunately, the isolated transformer cannot be replaced until an audit is done and completed and tamper fines issued. Eskom is aware that there are customers in good standing affected by this power loss, and we will do all possible to expedite the audit and ensure buying customers are reconnected,” she said.
Eskom technicians were working around the clock to repair damages that are caused by illegal connections and those who tamper with Eskom meters. Eskom appeals to customers and communities to report any illegal activity on electrical infrastructure so that the criminals may be brought to book.
Electricity users are urged to treat all electrical lines, sockets, and appliances as live and dangerous, as electricity can be switched on at any time without prior notice.
In addition, customers are urged to stay clear of any damaged infrastructure and to report faults and unsafe conditions through one of Eskom’s customer self-service channels, i.e., Alfred the Chatbot (https://alfred.eskom.co.za/chatroom/), MyEskom Customer App (download for Android or for IOS), CS Online platform (www.csonline.co.za) or Contact Centre (08600 37566).
Customers are urged to help combat infrastructure theft, vandalism, illegal connections, and other forms of electricity theft by reporting any of these criminal activities to the Eskom crime line toll-free number: 0800 112722.
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