Free electricity for needy
Each family will receive 50kwh a month and it will be forfeited if not used.
Eskom is facing many challenges including loadshedding, however the power utility will provide free electricity to the needy.
Free basic electricity will be given to families who are identified by Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) and who are connected legally to the grid..
Each family will receive 50kwh a month.
Electrification planning manager at Eskom in KZN, Reggie Dlamini made a presentation to the RNM council on Tuesday morning last week.
He said funding and direction for the project will be provided by national government and the municipality will be accountable for the provision.
“The 50kwh will be sufficient for lighting and water heating. There will also be no carryover if the token is not used for the month, it will be forfeited.”
Dlamini also gave a scope of 2023/24 Eskom projects in RNM.
The power utility will be electrifying houses, removing illegal connections and reconnecting with new designs. Gamalakhe tin town, KwaMadla, Oshabeni and Kwaxaba are some of the areas that will benefit from these projects.
He called on the assistance of ward councillors to go house to house to identify issues to be rectified.
Dlamini said houses that are incomplete or unoccupied will not be electrified.
Explaining to council, he said the Masinenge electrification project should have been completed but due to building delays it had to be stopped.
Councillors asked Dlamini about transformers that explode regularly and that it was unfair for people to go without electricity for months or up to a year when they are paying for it.
He said that currently Eskom will not replace damaged transformers because many of them have illegal connections.
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