Eskom renewed tactic buckles down on Soweto residents

Large parts of non -paying Eskom customers in Soweto could be left in the dark as Eskom embarks on an aggressive pursuit of defaulting customers.

Over the last two weeks, the utility enforced deliberate power outages in Doornkop Ext 1, and in the last week areas including Dobsonville Gardens, Green Village, Thubelisha and Protea City were switched off.

The disconnections are targeted at low buying and non-paying communities.

Urban News understands that at least over 1900 houses between Dobsonville Gardens and Protea City that are affected, 94% were defaulting and non- buyers.

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Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi recently held engagements with residents of Doornkop (Thulani -Snake Park) where 14 transformers were switched off.

The Premier who returned to the area last Tuesday on November 7 with Eskom officials ended his second visit on a sour note after the utility did not barge to residents demands for power to be restored.

Adding to this, Eskom demanded payments upfront and only after at least, supply could be restored.

“How can they switch off electricity without informing us of their intentions, without allowing us time to fix our faults.

“They know that unemployment is high and in some houses are pensioners,” a frustrated resident, Siphesihle Ndlovu spoke on the sidelines of the meeting with the Premier.

In Meadowlands Zone 5 where more than 600 houses in ward 40 and 41 were disconnected, residents embarked on a protests closing Ndofaya Mall demanding the utility to restore supply.

Residents, councillors and Office of the Premier held a meeting to discuss Eskom’s latest decision.

Ward Councillor, Tumelo Madiba said they were disappointed that Eskom decided to switch off the community.

“Eskom has emphasised that people need to pay fines until they have completed the R6000.52 fine but we are disappointed that they would take a decision to switch off the grid rather than switch off mini-sub by mini-sub so that not everyone gets affected. We request that Eskom should talk to its customers rather than just switching off,” he said.

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Eskom Spokeperson, Amanda Qithi said they were still faced with customers not buying electricity. She added that disconnections are conducted to curb equipment damage.

“Eskom is conducting disconnections to prevent equipment failure and revenue loss in areas where there is a risk of electricity infrastructure exploding or failing as a result of illegal activities through tampering and bypassing of meters and illegal connections which lead to network overloading,” commented Qithi.

According to Eskom, it loses about 326 million a month across Gauteng due to non-purchases of electricity and purchases from ghost vendors.

“Eskom monitors and conducts audits of its infrastructure and customers who are found to have bypassed or tampered with their meters are issued with fines.

“About 60% of customers that have been issued with the remedial charges on the same supply point should make upfront payment before supply can be restored,” Qithi added.