Electricity still a burning issue in Kagiso
Community members protested yet again after Eskom representatives addressed them.
What was supposed to be a peaceful address by Eskom representatives turned into strike action on Saturday, 13 August in Kagiso.
This comes after the Kagiso community took to the streets earlier this month to protest against Eskom’s smart prepaid metering project. Residents barricaded roads, burnt tyres and demanded to speak to Eskom representatives. They complained about the increased price of electricity since the smart prepaid metering project was implemented and that some sections of the township were connected while some were not.
“There is disaffection regarding the smart metering project by Eskom. We are trying to solve this problem and we are still waiting on Eskom to respond,” Nkosana Zali, Mogale City Local Municipality’s spokesperson told the News.
After a day of waiting on the streets, the MMC of Infrastructure, David Letsie and Zali both arrived at the scene in an effort to pacify the angry crowd but they refused to budge. When Eskom representatives arrived, they promised to meet with the community at a later date.
“Community members expected Eskom to disconnect or remove those meters altogether until other sections of Kagiso were connected. Eskom’s area manager agreed to deactivate them but on Saturday, Eskom representatives said deactivation was impossible. That is when residents got angry, threatened to burn cars and at the end of the day there was no solution,” Community Liaison Officer Gilbert Gaselebelwe said.
The News contacted Eskom for comment but they were unavailable on several occasions.
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