Farmer dares the municipality

“I dare you that the day people on this farm receive electricity, I’ll slaughter a cow,” were the words from farmer Paul Grey to Eskom and the Msukaligwa Municipality during one of their consultative meetings to provide electricity to Uitzigt farm, now known as Kandleleni.

The household of Ms Paulina Nkumane (58) is one of the 75 that were electrified By Eskom last week.

Last Thursday was the first time Ms Nkumane and her family of four saw a light bulb glowing in their home in all the years she has lived on the farm.
Another beneficiary, Mr D. Zulu (in his late fifties), has also been living on the farm since his childhood, and received electricity for the first time last week.

Just like the rest of the community, Ms Nkumane and Mr Zulu were overjoyed and practically speechless.

The majority of the community members the Highvelder spoke to gave credit to Paul Grey for his tireless efforts in making sure the community received electricity.

This was evident when the Gert Sibande District Municipality’s Chief Whip, Tunu Mnisi (aka Gogo Brown), also commended Mr Grey and the late Moses Sithole for always running up and down, in and out of their offices, fighting for the people on his farm.

Project co-ordinator Mr Vincent Zwane, who was also the project manager, gave the community of Kandleleni a short lesson on the use of electricity and the dangers associated with it. He also warned them against illegal connections. The municipality’s customer service department will be visiting the farm soon to educate them further and share safety tips.

Executive Mayor of Msukaligwa Municipality Cllr J.S. Bongwe commended the working relationship between Mr Grey and the community. He also praised them for not participating in violent protests despite the long wait, but following right channels and being patient.

Mr Grey said he was pleased for the community on the farm and thanked Eskom and the municipality for keeping their promise, as he had also kept his promise to slaughter a cow.

The process started years ago when people of the farm submitted applications for electricity, but during the 2012/2013 financial year, the municipality, through its electricity section, requested council to submit a list of farms that needed electrification.

Eskom did surveys on the farm for the project and in the 2014/2015 financial year both Eskom and municipality delivered to the people of Kandleleni.
In his closing remarks, Cllr Bongwe posed a challenge to other farm owners, workers and communities to follow this example in working together, peacefully and in harmony.