Tyres were burnt and some roads barricaded with rocks as residents of Mohlakeng took to the streets on Thursday, 4 June to protest against the power outages of the past two weeks.

Community leaders called a meeting that evening to inform residents what the municipality had to say.

Speaking to the Herald, Denis Mangope, the ANC chairperson for Mohlakeng, said he was also affected by the outages.

We noticed the power interruptions without warning or being informed.

“Today as ANC branches of Mohlakeng we stood up and engaged with Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) and Eskom to find out what the problem was. The municipality informed us that they had settled their debt with Eskom, hence we are here to give feedback to the community,” he said.

Community member Princess April was angry about the situation and said it was painful because they were left in the dark. They did not know the reasons for the irregular power supply, and whether Eskom or the municipality was to blame.

“I am very sad because I have small children that have to eat. Our refrigerators and televisions have been affected, and our perishable products have rotten,” she said.

Tshidiso Tlharipe, RWCLM spokesperson, confirmed that Mohlakeng residents have been experiencing power outages in the past two weeks.

These power outages were the result of an Eskom programme of load reduction due to outstanding debt.

“As a result the municipality has effected payment of R20 million to Eskom to restore fully functional electricity to the community of Mohlakeng.”

Tlharipe said residents of Mohlakeng would have their electricity fully restored by Thursday evening, but at the time of print, some areas were still in the dark.