Provincial government forges forward to end electricity woes

Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi assured residents of Soweto that malfunctioning transformers will be a thing of the past as plans are in place for electricity supply to be restored for areas currently in the dark.

Lesufi was speaking with residents of Ward 129 Thulani (Snake Park) in Soweto on Sunday.

He said Eskom was committed to restoring transformers and electricity and would be visiting affected Soweto areas in coming weeks.

The premier convened a community meeting with residents to give feedback on the outcomes of a meeting with the utility regarding concerns raised by residents of Doornkop.

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The intervention by Lesufi is part of the Gauteng Transformer Replacement Programme in partnership with Eskom and City Power launched last month in Kagiso to repair transformers in parts of Gauteng.

According to Premier Lesufi who addressed the desperate residents who fully packed the hall, six transformers in the area were damaged while an additional 14 transformers were down due to low payment.

In addition, he said in his engagement with the utility, it emerged that 18% were buying electricity while at least over 75% are not paying but are on the grid.

Lesufi emphasised that residents needed to pay for the electricity they consume and purchase their electricity from approved Eskom vendors only.

In addition to this, he called on those who are illegally on the grid, to be disconnected and reapply to be legally connected.

“I want us to be clear that we agree as residents because Eskom has raised their concerns regarding payment levels but they have also committed to ensuring that the 14 transformers would be switched on by Tuesday at 5pm if residents also commit to solving the issues raised,” Lesufi said.

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Residents expressed their grievances and frustrations with Eskom, with others calling for a flat rate for all residents citing they could not afford the R500 demanded by Eskom due to unemployment, child and pensioner headed homes.

Premier Lesufi said they were currently engaging with the utility on the matter.

“We are engaging with Eskom on the matter as a province. We have set aside money to buy transformers as a provincial government. We have volunteered ourselves as the provincial government.

We said to Eskom there are people who have been without electricity for four years so if they don’t have money to buy those transformers, as the provincial government we will buy them.

“Where we pay and buy these transformers, as the provincial government we will not allow people to pay R500 but where Eskom is paying the transformers on its own – unfortunately they will continue to request those R500s.”

Earlier this year, the utility admitted that the high number of incidents of electricity equipment failure had put a strain on Eskom’s ability to speedily replace and restore supply to the affected areas across Gauteng.

According to the utility, it had estimated that the current Soweto debt is over R2,2 billion.

“The debt levels in Soweto continue to grow and the Eskom operational costs on the other hand also keep accelerating exponentially, while the business takes further financial strain as we have to keep repairing, refurbishing or and replacing infrastructure that breaks or is frequently vandalized,” Eskom Spokesperson, Amanda Qithi said at the time.

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Lesufi also committed to return to the community with all the members of the mayoral committee (MMCs) in the City to tackle issues of community development and youth unemployment in a separate meeting scheduled for this week.

The communities of Zola and Dobsonville are also expected to engage with the Premier over the same electricity challenges.