Residents of Block B Ward 21 in Mabopane are outraged by Eskom’s arbitrary and brazen action to confiscate electricity meters of residents on Wednesday after it was discovered that they have ” tampered with (bridged) the meters.”
The embittered residents told Tshwane Talks that they take very strong exception to Eskom’s careless and provocative action.
Member of the Mabopane Ward 21 Committee Given Moraba said Eskom came to their area with the honest intention to “audit houses of the local residents” but ended up confiscating electricity meters of some residents.
The hapless residents have been ordered to pay R6 100 (six thousand and one hundred rand) or else their electricity meters won’t be reinstalled.
“The majority of residents whose electricity meter boxes have been confiscated are pensioners who earn around R2 300 (two thousand three hundred rand) old age grants and that money is used for important purposes like groceries and other daily needs while the majority of the youth in the area are unemployed,” he said.
“Part of that pension grant is used by the elderly to support the unemployed youth with food, burial society payments and pocket money,” explained Moraba
Moraba said he doesn’t want to make comparisons between the then white apartheid regime which ruled areas like Mabopane via black leaders like Lucas Mangope and the present ANC-led government, but pointed out that Mangope left areas like Mabopane in good shape as people were employed back then and no one owed government institutions such large amounts of money like is the case these days.
He called upon Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to come to Mabopane and see for himself the debilitating state of unemployment that is rife in the area.
He insisted that residents are vehemently opposed to the muted R1 600 fee that Eskom has imposed upon those whose electricity meter boxes have been confiscated.
According to Moraba, the residents of Block B Ward 21 in Mabopane have been without electricity for over a month now after an electricity transformer caused power outage in the area.
“We contacted Eskom to come and fix the matter but instead Eskom came to the area a week ago and made assessments of the situation and today they have informed us that the power outage has been caused by residents who have tampered with their electricity meters,” he said.
He revealed that Eskom informed residents that the electricity that they purchase from local foreign-owned spaza shops is not valid and that it is actually fake as Eskom can’t get any money from such purchases.
“But it is not our fault as residents if we buy our electricity from foreign-owned spaza shops because the government has allowed these spaza shops to operate freely and sell anything including fake electricity and fake food items,” griped Moraba.
He complained about the fact that though the township of Mabopane falls under the City of Tshwane Municipality, the area is expected to buy electricity directly from Eskom unlike other areas in Tshwane who get their electricity from the Municipality.
Ward 21 Committee member Segale Mosheshe told Tshwane Talks that the lack of electricity in the area is a serious convenience and as a result the local Councillor was engaged to come up with a solution in this regard and expressed hope that the matter will be resolved amicably.
Sibongile Nnandi who runs a baking business expressed concern that the power outage, including Eskom’s action to confiscate electricity meter boxes in the area has literally put her business to a halt as she can’t earn any income since last month.
“I am the breadwinner, I have children who are adults but they are unemployed and they therefore depend on me for their survival and I am the one who makes sure that they have something to eat on a daily basis,” she said.
She appealed to those who have tampered with Eskom’s electricity meter boxes to approach Eskom and admit their guilt so that they can be fined and have their electricity meter boxes reinstalled and that such a situation will bring normality back in the area and allow everyone to move on with their lives.