SIYABONGA SITHOLE
Johannesburg – The people of Soweto have rejected Eskom plans to install prepaid meters and to pay their electricity debt owed to the power utility.
Eskom's operation and maintenance manager Daphne Mokwena said Eskom was working hard to replace broken transformers which have plunged parts of Soweto into darkness for months. This has not only affected only households but schools and clinics and other facilities.
Mokwena was speaking during a meeting at Soweto Amphitheatre, where City of Joburg mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse returned for her report back to residents of Soweto on Saturday.
The report back comes after the residents marched to the mayor's office in June to deliver a memorandum aimed at bringing relief to Soweto residents from the Eskom debt and other service delivery issues.
"Most of the issues in the memorandum were around failed mini-substations (transformers). We had 118 failed mini-subs that had exploded or burnt down and needed fixing and of the 118, (only) 80 were fixed. One of the major issues are schools affected by the broken mini-subs..." Mokwena said.
Mokwena added that the transformer breakdowns were linked to the overloading of infrastructure due to illegal connections, tampering with meters, cable theft and vandalism.
When it comes to load reduction, which has seen areas of Soweto targeted due to non-payment, Mokwena said communities needed to pay for services to ensure that load reduction was not effected.
She added that Eskom has undertaken to allow those fined R6 000 for tampering with their metres to pay off the fine over seven months to be reconnected, instead of an upfront fee. With regard to the flat rate, Mokwena said the structure was determined by Nersa as the energy regulator and not Eskom.
"Our flat rate and tariffs are determined by Nersa through public hearings. I urge the people of Soweto to attend these public hearings and voice their issues regarding flat rates," she said.
Soweto parliament leader Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini said they would force Eskom to train 126 young people from Soweto as technicians.
"O Monday, we are going to identify three young people from each of the 42 wards in Soweto to be trained as technicians. That means 126 young people in Soweto are to be trained by Eskom with immediate effect,“ the leader said.
He added that the community was tired of waiting for technicians from Sandton who do not know the issues of Soweto.
“These technicians steal cables. If a young person is trained, he will not steal cables because he knows that this will affect him directly," he said.
On the issue of Soweto residents owing Eskom billions in electricity bills, Dlamini said the they do not owe Eskom anything but were prepared to pay a flat rate of R200 a month.
"There is no one sitting here who owes Eskom anything. The unaffordable prepaid meters that are being installed in Soweto, we will let them install them but we will not use them. As Soweto parliament, we have passed a resolution with all stakeholders present that we will pay a flat rate. We are going to pay our flat rate into a trust account. Our councillor and leaders are going to pay this R200 flat rate monthly to Eskom," he said.
Mokwena urged backroom landlords to work with Eskom by upgrading their electricity supply to avoid overloading the system.
"If you are a landlord, you need to approach Eskom to upgrade. We have started working with other landlords to upgrade their power supply so they don't affect their neighbours. I want to urge them to work with Eskom to avoid burning of mini-subs," Mokwena added.
The Star