After three months of living in the dark, Empumelelweni residents celebrated the replacement of their damaged transformer, marking an end to their agony.

The celebration comes after an unfortunate incident they experienced in December where their transformer got damaged by heavy rains, and they were required by the municipality to contribute fees toward getting a replacement.

After the incident, the community said they rushed to the local municipality to report the matter, and after thorough examinations, the transformer was declared faulty and were told that a replacement was needed.

That was when the municipality allegedly asked them to contribute around R800 per household in order for the transformer to be replaced. However, to accommodate those who are unemployed and rely solely on grants, the community negotiated and allegedly agreed on R400, which was later allegedly increased to the initial fee of R800.

Ward committee member Michael Masina, who was among the people who reported the issue, emphasised that it was no surprise that the municipality required contributions from the residents.

“It is a norm for residents in all the extensions in Empumelelweni to make contributions whenever there is a damaged transformer,” he said. Adding that the community had been putting so much effort into the contributions.

With no response from the municipality, WITBANK NEWS had managed to reach councillor Timothy Lukhele, who explained that the reason the community had to allegedly contribute was because they had not been paying their municipality bills since 2013.

“Households are expected to pay the municipality a fee of around R100 per month, which increases over the years. Most of the affected households had never paid. As a result, the municipality no longer has enough funds,” he said.

For those who didn’t have any means to raise the money, Lukhele mentioned that they were expected to go and declare at the municipal offices, fill in the necessary forms, and get assistance.
Residents and businesses in the area struggled to survive the never-ending power outage they were faced with.

They said they were forced to eat canned foods almost every day, bathe with cold water, sleep early, and had to constantly inhale gas or paraffin as they used it for cooking. “The biggest challenge was constantly having to buy gas. The cost of living had become high,” one resident explained.

However, the power of unity prevailed for the community as they managed to reach the required target and had their transformer replaced on March 26, ending their struggle.

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