Eskom’s township power clampdown sends SA back to the dark ages
ESKOM’S clampdown on townships that owe it billions in debt has been criticised as many areas get plunged into darkness.
The townships of Soweto have borne the brunt of the power utilities recovery plan, with many areas experiencing darkness and power cuts outside of the load-shedding schedules.
The University of Johannesburg's (UJ) Centre for Sociological Research and Practice (CSRP) has released a research report exploring Soweto’s experiences, responses, and solutions to the energy crisis in South Africa.
Entitled “Energy racism: The electricity crisis in South Africa”, the CSRP research team used an ethnographic, door-to-door research methodology to answer questions about how ordinary township folk experienced the electricity crisis, and what impact it had on their lives.
The research results contained in the 83-page report are captured in the concept of “energy racism”. The researchers found a situation in which black working-class communities were bearing the burden of the electricity crisis.
This, as the power utility circulated a notice to the residents of Protea North informing them that power would be cut off soon.
Residents of Protea South have been in the dark for four months as a result of evident non-payment and bypassing of electric meters, according to Eskom.
Last December saw Diepkloof residents blockading the roads with burning tyres in protest at prolonged power cuts by the power utility. Protea North may be next.
Residents of the area have been seeing a notice by the Eskom Gauteng Cluster notifying them that the power supply would soon be cut off due to high energy losses in the feeder that supplies electricity in the area. No date is specified on the notice.
The Independent Media team took to the streets of the area to gauge residents’ reactions. While some have not seen the notice, others have.
“Someone sent it to me on Whatsapp. We don’t know what’s going to happen. The crisis at Eskom cannot be limited to just Soweto residents. It is a parastatal that is being grossly mismanaged. Soweto residents are being used as scapegoats,” said Letsatsi Sedibe.
While not all residents buy their electricity from legal vendors, speaking off the record, those who bypass their electricity meters said they did so because they couldn’t afford electricity.
Maria Tlou, 40, said it must be made clear that there are Sowetans who do pay for their electricity. “One other thing we must address is this blanket statement that no Sowetans pay for electricity; no. (That’s) incorrect. There are many parts of the township that use prepaid meters.
“Those who aren't paying have repeatedly said they were collecting on a promise made by politicians. Address Eskom’s problems with the politicians. To blame their issues and challenges on all Sowetans is completely unfair,” said Tlou.
According to Eskom, the notice was indeed circulated by the utility. It said in Soweto, Eskom had a total of 173 800 customers, of which 85 563 are zero buyers. That means more than 50% of customers in Soweto are zero buyers (i.e. do not pay for electricity they use), while only 40% buy and pay for electricity. At this stage, Soweto owes Eskom R4.6 billion.
On why individual households cannot be dealt with once identified to be participating in these illegal connections, utility spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said it was generally impossible to leave the power on for individual customers, as the Eskom network was configured in such a way that it wasn’t always possible to disconnect only those customers not paying for electricity.