Cosmo City takes electricity demands to Eskom
Cosmo City residents took their electricity frustrations directly to Eskom this week, presenting a memorandum of demands and securing a commitment to a follow-up meeting within 14 days.
Residents of Cosmo City made their way to Megawatt Park in Sunninghill to hand over a memorandum of demands to Eskom, citing prolonged outages, unaffordable electricity costs, and the forced installation of smart meters.
Community representative Maletsatsi Zimu said the visit was about getting their concerns on record. “We are the community of Cosmo City. We are just here to submit our memorandum, basically listing our grievances and the things we are not happy about,” she said.
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Eskom customer service senior manager Nokuthula Mntungwa was present to receive the memorandum. She assured residents that a particular official they had raised concerns about would not be involved in future engagements. “When you guys come for the meeting, we will make sure that he’s not there,” she said.
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Tensions ran high during the handover after residents were kept waiting before being addressed. Community members raised concerns about the impact of load reduction on their households, the high cost of electricity, and the puzzling fact that units continued to be consumed on their meters even during outages.
@caxtonjoburgnorth Cosmo City residents took their frustrations to Eskom presenting a memorandum of demands. Photo: Nkazimulo Ncube #Randburg #Cosmo #Eskom ♬ original sound – Caxton Joburg North
Councillor Sello Mabelebele used the occasion to air his own frustrations with Eskom’s responsiveness, arguing that paying residents were being unfairly treated. “You are being unfair because you are treating those who are paying the same way as those who are not,” he said. He added that reports of outages sent through a dedicated council support group had gone unanswered. “People will report that we don’t have electricity for a week. We report there. No response,” he said.
Mntungwa received the memorandum, signing both copies and retaining one. She asked residents to identify a delegation of 10 representatives for a follow-up meeting. “Just select maybe 10 eople from that group,” she said, adding that she would contact the community within 14 days to set up the meeting and discuss further steps.
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