A Waterpan woman is desperate to keep her lights on after a power cable supplying electricity to her household was tampered with and cut several times.

In an exclusive interview with the Herald, Janine Bosch, 55, said she has been without electricity for at least three months. She has also lost count on how many light bulbs have blown, not to mention the damage to appliances such as fridges. In addition, she had to dispose of food that was no longer fit for consumption.

Bosch, who is also a humanitarian, provided shelter for needy children in the house.

They’ve had to find another sanctuary,” she said.

Bosch said when she occupied the house in 2012, there weren’t any issues with electricity; however since 2019 the neighbourhood would get unprecedented power cuts.

She said one night at 23:00 she found someone busy connecting to the grid illegally. Not only did the pole outside her home explode, but it also caused damage to her appliances.

She believed she was being targeted for reporting electricity theft to Eskom, and that her life was at risk because a fire was once started near her property, and dogs were let loose on her chicken run – killing as many as 20 chickens.

When I went to Eskom about this issue they deny any responsibility. No one comes to sort out the problem. I am reporting what’s going on and I believe that I’m doing the right thing, but no one has my back.

“I am really tired of going back and forth, but I would really appreciate if I could get help,” Bosch added.

Tumi Mashishi, an Eskom representative for Gauteng’s operating unit responded to the Herald‘s enquiry, saying, “We are aware of this matter and are in continuous engagements with the customer. Eskom does reconnect her supply whenever she reports her outages. This happens quite often.

“Whilst our security department is working on the criminal aspect of resolving the matter, we are also exploring technical solutions on how we can secure her electricity supply.”