Substation vandalism plunges parts of Soweto in the dark
Hundreds of poor families left in cold
Residents of several areas in Soweto have been left in the dark for more than a week after a substation was severely vandalised over a week ago, leaving hundreds of households in the cold.
The vandalism of the Jabavu substation, which Eskom said was one of the worst, has left Central Western Jabavu, Mofolo Central, Molapo and White City without electricity since April 31.
The timing of the interruption in power supply could not have come at the worse time as Johannesburg has been experiencing low temperatures and rains.
Nthabiseng Matsimela, a resident of White City, said life had become a living hell as she has had to make several adjustments for her family.
“I have had to take my meat grocery to one of my neighbours in Dube. As you can see, I am boiling water to bath my daughter and also have tea. Wood is difficult to find in Soweto and the people who sell coal no longer come around.
“It is tough. It feels like we are reversing back to the rural areas. We survive on eating potato chips and bread,” said Matsimela.
She said her family survived on her aunt’s disability grant. Her daughter also gets the social grant but these are not enough for them to be able to pay electricity, hence they have bridged electricity.
Just less than 10 minutes away, Zodwa Zwane, 66, of Central Western Jabavu was still trying to make her way home after walking for about 30 minutes just to charge her cellphone.
“It is really difficult. I live with my mom, who is 86. She is diabetic and has hypertension. You can imagine how difficult things are for me.
“We cannot cook and it is extremely cold for us.
“We have to go around looking for wood. It is bad. We have to live on bread and now have run out of money.
“In the morning I cannot cook my four grandchildren porridge before they go to school. They now have to rely on the school’s feeding scheme for their first meal.
“This is really not okay,” Zwane said.
Businesses have also been hit hard.
Mphola Mahamo, who runs a fast food outlet in the same neighbourhood, said her profits had been halved as she had been forced to cut down her offering to just selling chips.
She cannot cook other meals such as pap and beef liver.
“We are using a gas stove just to fry chips but the gas does not come cheap. It is just to help us to survive while we are waiting for power to return.
“It is really tough.
“We cannot sell drinks which we have already stocked because fridges are not working,” Mahamo said.
In its statement, Eskom said the vandalism at the substation was one of the biggest incident of vandalism.
“Our teams have been working around the clock since Friday 30 April 2021 when power to the affected areas was interrupted and they have managed to restore supply to customers in Molapo, parts of Moroka, Klipspruit and Pimville,” said spokesperson Ronel Kotze.
Soweto has been having long electricity problems.
Vandalism, illegal connection and bridging of meters have had a severe impact on Eskom distribution network to the township. Soweto owes Eskom R12.8bn.
Last week, Johannesburg mayor Geoffrey Makhubo announced that the city had started discussions with the power utility and other government departments to take over the supply of power to the township.
Makhubo said residents threaten the lives of councillors each time there is a power outage, while the leader has no role to play in the power supply, which is Eskom’s responsibility.
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It is tough. It feels like we are reversing back to the rural areas