[PICS] Kagiso burns over electricity

Residents burned tires and barricaded roads while protesting against Eskom's new smart prepaid metering project.

August 4, 2016

Portia Mokowe 2 minutes read

Community members Lincoln Mathyse and Basimane Masuphe waiting for Eskom.

The community of Kagiso took to the streets on Tuesday, 2 August, protesting about Eskom’s new smart prepaid metering project.

Members of the community had previously expressed their dissatisfaction on social media and complained to the News about this project.

Residents had three major complaints: electricity has become more expensive since the smart prepaid metering project was implemented; Eskom does not treat different sections of Kagiso equally because some sections are connected while some are not; and they are not getting favorable results when they call Eskom.

“I am concerned because it seems as if we are the only ones who are paying an arm and a leg for this electricity while our fellow residents are still using the old metering system. Eskom should treat us fairly since we belong to the same community. Community members are protesting because we were told that Eskom would address us today. We waited until the afternoon, and then people got angry because they had waited for so long,” a frustrated community member Lindiwe Ramatheba said.

Lindiwe Ramatheba says that Eskom is not treating the community equally.

Another resident, Lindiwe Moila complained about the price of electricity.

“Eskom didn’t consult us before installing this new smart prepaid metering project and furthermore, the units we are buying are a problem. One might buy 50 units with R100 and that is unfair,” Lindiwe told the News.

Mogale City’s MMC of Infrastructure, David Letsie and Mogale City’s spokesperson, Nkosana Zali, who were both at the scene, acknowledged that the problem was Eskom’s smart prepaid meters.

“There is disaffection regarding the smart metering project by Eskom. We are trying to solve this problem as we talked to the community on Friday and we’re still waiting on Eskom to respond. The municipality as a whole is worried, because we promised to engage Eskom,” Zali told the News.

Mogale City spokesperson Nkosazana Zali was at the scene when the Kagiso community protested.

“The municipality met with the community. I also spoke with Eskom, who said they will be meeting the community on the 18 August, but the community said that was too long to wait. We are working on solving this,” said Letsie.

Kagiso community liaison officer Gilbert Gaselebelwe said that Eskom will be meeting community members at the Kagiso regional park today to discuss a way forward with them.