Community awards Eskom’s devotion during Cyclone Eloise

Eskom’s Kiepersol depot was shown an unusual amount of admiration by local community members for their hard work and devotion during Cyclone Eloise.

Residents of the Sabie River Valley bought 19 trophies for the workers of Eskom’s depot in Hazyview for their tireless work during the 48 hours of Cyclone Eloise and subsequent storms in January.
The trophies, one big and 18 miniature trophies, were handed over to the workers on Friday February 19 at the depot in Hazyview.

“When our power went out during Eloise, we mentally prepared for at least a week of darkness,” said Sabie River Valley resident Rob Topham.

“Then, an hour later, in the middle of 220 to 350 millilitres of rain, the lights came back on.”

Topham called the manager of the Kiepersol depot in Hazyview, Zakhele Hlatshwayo, to find out if his team was out in the rain, repairing the damaged power cables. “These guys didn’t wait for the rain to stop,” Topham said. “They went out in strong winds and sheets of rain to restore power to the area and for that, the residents of Hazyview commend them.”

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Topham and other residents of the Sabie River Valley raised some funds to show their appreciation.
“We told the Eskom workers that we wanted to give them something nice and asked them what they would want: a party, a sound system for the depot, Wi-Fi, children’s exercise books or trophies. Almost immediately they opted for the latter,” Topham said.

This heart-warming matter was mentioned to Eskom’s executives, who were apparently thrilled by the recognition from the community. “This is an A team,” said Innocent Mohlala, operational executive of Eskom in Mpumalanga. “They show ongoing excellent performance and they deserve the recognition. They always go the extra mile, and the community obviously notices it.”

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Themba Mamushi, Eskom’s operating unit senior manager in Mpumalanga, mentioned that there are ways in which community members can help increase the level of service they receive from Eskom.
“There are so many Eskom clients who do not pay their electricity bill and this kills Eskom. We cannot pay our people or buy the necessary products if we are still waiting for money from our clients.”
Another useful tip is to be comprehensive when reporting a fault to Eskom.

“When we get detailed descriptions of exactly where a fault is, we can do our job much more efficiently. We urge members of the public to help us notice when branches touch powerlines and to report the exact location of these branches so we can send out technicians. Please do not try to trim the branches without an Eskom technician present.” To report a fault to Eskom, call
086-009-7566.