Electricity switch-on brings relief
HUNDREDS of residents in Buffalo City Metro’s Unit P RDP settlement were finally connected to the electricity grid yesterday.
Deputy Minister of Energy Thembi Majola officially switched on electricity to 726 households there, thanks to a R7.2-million cash injection by BCM.
Majola said the countrywide electrification project was an ongoing process, as communities continued to grow.
“The need for electrification in South Africa is massive with an infinite budget [required] but we are working towards our target, which is to achieve universal access in 2025,” said Majola.
The government had been battling with electrification backlogs for years.
Majola praised BCM, saying the metro had electrified 85% of households.
Mzwakhe Landzeka, 53, a double amputee who lives alone, was the first person to switch on lights yesterday.
Landzeka, a former bus driver, was injured on duty in 2010, and had been without running water or electricity for the past two years.
“I have no words to express my happiness. It has been a constant struggle to even cook, but now my life is easier,” said Landzeka.
However, controversy surrounds Landzeka’s RDP house. It is believed to have been built in someone else’s yard.
While Majola was addressing the media, Nokhaya Dana, 78, came out of her house and asked the deputy minister to intervene in what she termed was bullying by the municipality.
Dana claimed the municipality built Landzeka’s house in her yard. “There is nowhere I haven’t gone trying to find out why the municipality insisted on building in my yard.”
Deputy mayor Zoliswa Matana promised to handle the case herself.
Matana was accompanied by other councillors from BCM, including the ward councillor Zameka Kodwa-Jagula.
Kodwa-Jagula said the electricity switch-on had brought relief to the residents. “It becomes a relief for us as well when services get to the people. It also creates hope for those around them. In this ward we still have four other areas to electrify, but we are getting there.” —