Residents of Protea Glen Ext 24 barricaded roads leading in and out of the neighbourhood and surrounding areas last Thursday in protest of an electricity shutdown instituted by Eskom.
Residents said Eskom had turned their electricity off since last Monday due to them allegedly not buying enough electricity according to a consumption report.
“When they came I thought they were going to fix the electricity pole because it’s problematic but then our electricity just went off with no explanation. It’s not like we bridged our electricity, it’s just that we buy it from illegal vendors,” said a resident, Boitshoko Molokoane.
Eskom also withdrew its services from the area until the area was safe. It also said it would only reconnect the residents who paid the R6052, 06 fine.
A delegation was sent to the Eskom offices in Randfontein by the residents, upon arrival at the Eskom offices the residents drew up a memorandum with a list detailing their demands.
“Our first demand was for [Eskom] to reconnect those who have been disconnected, the second one was to enter into a payment agreement with those who have tampered with electricity and the third one is that there should be some form of education because Eskom’s tariffs are not consistent.
“The last one was for Eskom to come and reset so that they start their system from scratch to avoid this thing of being cut off,” explained Philelane Sindani, a community leader and member of the Protea Glen Crisis Committee.
Eskom in a media statement revealed that during recent audits conducted on 101 customers, 59 of the customers were found to have tampered with the network or were buying from illegal vendors. Molokoane noted that the notice she received from Eskom said that they were being disconnected from the grid because of “poor sales.”
“Revenue is key in running a sustainable business. In order for Eskom to function effectively and sustain the service it renders to customers, it is necessary to recover the costs incurred in the process.
“We ensure this through the collection of revenue. Eskom deploys credit management strategies, which include disconnection of illegal connections and un-serviced bills as a last resort to recover revenue owed to Eskom,” said Motlhabane Ramashi, Interim Senior Manager: Customer Services in a media statement.
Residents gave Eskom until last Friday 16:00 to respond to their demands and threatened to regroup should Eskom not respond positively.
“The problem is that they are buying this electricity from Eskom employees so our argument therefore is, Eskom employees have created a market and our people are utilising the market that has been created so when you punish do not only punish the residents but deal also with those who have created the market,” said Sindani.
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