This is the eighth month some residents in Setswetla have had the transformer supplying power to their area damaged, according to affected residents.
Bongani Chabalala, a resident in the area, said since then, they have had to source electricity informally from the neighbouring block, paying R200 monthly to stay connected.
However, even their current connections are not completely reliable, because too many people draw power from the same source. This, according to residents, could be one of the reasons why their own transformer was damaged.
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Another resident, Patronella Makhubela, said the network overload often leads to outages, which were even worse during winter. “That transformer becomes overloaded because there are a lot of people connected to it, especially those without electricity poles or infrastructure at all.”
She said this has been a recurring problem that has persisted for years.
Now, tired of costly and unreliable illegal connections, residents are looking to City Power for solutions, even though they argue that engagements with the utility have been minimal.
They said, although they had been using electricity for free for years, they are not opposed to paying for it, if it means they will get consistent and reliable supply. “If we can pay R200 a month to that person, then we can afford to buy electricity,” Chabalala said.
Also read: Resident interference leads to Botlhabela Village power cut
Resident Nobuntu Mabala said households in Setswetla, especially toward the Florence Moposho area, who have meters and are expected to pay for electricity, are starting to grow weary of paying while the rest of Setswetla does not.
She stressed that it is not fair for some to pay for services while a larger fraction of the community isn’t paying at all.
She said she wants the power utility to restart the process of installing meters, and ensure that every household gets one, not only a few. “They must make sure that they do things properly, start from the start, install the meters, and give us everything we need to start purchasing electricity. We will buy it.”
Alex News reached out to City Power for comment. More information will be provided when they respond.
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