ANC blasts ‘insensitive’ Eskom over Soweto power cuts

THE ANC lashed out at Eskom yesterday for prolonged power cuts that plunged the whole of Soweto into the darkness at the weekend.

The ANC in Johannesburg yesterday launched a scathing attack on Eskom and threatened to remove the power utility as an electricity supplier to the township.

Party spokesman Jolidee Matongo labelled the power outages as “an act of sabotage” and accused Eskom of being insensitive.

Most parts of Soweto were without power for at least 10 hours on Friday. They were reported outages in some parts yesterday.

The ANC’s attack on Eskom is a sign that the party feels that its support is under threat in Johannesburg, going into next year’s local government elections.

The party fears that such disruptions could fuel discontent with the ruling party in a traditional stronghold, following protests by residents in Orlando West against the installation of electricity meters.

Matongo said Eskom had failed to inform Soweto residents in advance about the outages. “[Eskom’s] failure to provide answers regarding this borders on ill-discipline by highlypaid Eskom officials who stay outside Soweto and are currently enjoying themselves in well-lit posh houses in the suburbs.”

The ANC threatened to organise a protest to demand the dismissal of Eskom officials if power was not restored in Soweto.

“We are now considering the termination of Eskom’s electricity supply to Soweto and the immediate resuscitation of the Kelvin Power Station to supply areas of Johannesburg through City Power.”

Soweto residents owe Eskom an estimated R4-billion — which forms half of the total R8-billion Eskom is owed by all municipalities.

Despite the fact that only 16% of Sowetans pay their Eskom accounts, the utility has kept the lights on in South Africa’s biggest township.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said the power utility had implemented stage one load shedding across the country and Soweto was one of the affected areas.

He said because of the cold weath- er, power transformers could not handle the increased demand in some parts of Soweto.

The City of Johannesburg also lambasted Eskom, and echoed the ANC’s sentiments that power cuts were insensitive.

“What exacerbated this was the deafening silence and indifference on the part of Eskom, which showed complete and utter disregard to the people of Soweto,” said Matshidiso Mfikoe, a member of the mayoral committee for infrastructure services.