Pretoria - Eskom has withdrawn its services to the Diepsloot community in Gauteng, citing safety concerns for its personnel following days of violent protests.
Community members have allegedly connected their own transformers to the grid, and Eskom technicians want to enter the community and remove the illegally connects.
Eskom spokesperson in Gauteng, Amanda Qithi, told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika that due to the volatile situation, Eskom technicians would struggle to secure police escort into the area as law enforcement agencies are attending to the protests.
“At this point, the risks are very high. We are unable to send any of technicians and we really cannot compromise their safety at this point,” said Qithi.
#EskomGauteng #ServicesWithdrawn
— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) June 20, 2023
#Diepsloot #Marlboro
We have withdrawn our services from Diepsloot and Marlboro due to threats against our technicians. We will return to the areas when we deem it safe for our employees to operate. Their safety is important to us.
Qithi said before withdrawing services, the power utility has made efforts to engage with community leaders in Diepsloot to have a guarantee on the technicians’ safety.
“We really take safety into consideration, be it for the community or for our technicians. Even leading to this (withdrawal of services) we have been engaging the community and the leaders within those communities to allow us to go in so that we can remove those illegally connected transformers,” Qithi said speaking to the broadcaster.
“We have a process that we follow as Eskom when a transformer has failed, but unfortunately this community has refused us to follow that process and instead they have just gone and connected these illegally connected transformers.”
On Tuesday, IOL reported that disgruntled Diepsloot residents who have been protesting over crime in the area, said they want President Cyril Ramaphosa to visit the community and address their grievances.
Residents have been protesting since Monday. They have stated that they have lost faith in Police Minister Bheki Cele because he has failed to provide long-term solutions to resolving the alarming crime rate in the area.
Meanwhile, Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela went to the township on Tuesday and met with multiple community representatives.
The meeting focused on the illegal occupation of shacks at Adelaide Tambo that were left vacant after the occupants moved to RDP houses in Riverside.
According to the local community police forum, the shacks are a haven for illegal immigrants and criminals.
IOL