PRETORIA - As the sun rose over Mamelodi and parts of Nellmapius yesterday, the streets were littered with burnt tyres and debris
Residents of the townships have been up in arms since Monday over poor service delivery, in particular power cuts.
Although the restoration of power brought some calm in the coldest week of the year, there was still tension in the air.
Yesterday a small group of residents braved the cold and tried to block the road again, while Eskom was at work, attending to problems at substations that supply the area with power.
Eskom said in a statement that the ongoing protests had forced their technicians to withdraw for their own safety, preventing them from fixing the problems earlier.
“Residents want to take short cuts by protesting without making any formal complaints through our office,” Eskom said in a statement.
The statement outlined a backlog in electricity repairs across the region.
Throughout the week the main roads leading in and out of Mamelodi were blocked by protesters demanding electricity be restored to all. On Thursday those going to school and work had to get out of their taxis and walk because of the debris in the road.
Section D5, C3, D6 and Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Tsamaya Road were littered with stones, rubbish and poles and vehicles could not move in or out of the area.
Community member Rachel Ditchabe said residents’ patience had worn out because of broken promises.
“We thought they would have listened to us after last week’s protest. But they seem to have ignored us,” she said. “People who have been living in the area for a long time have been overlooked while people who just got here have electricity.”
Residents said that officials had told them that a transformer was overloaded as a result of illegal bridging, which involves bypassing meter boxes to prevent recording consumption. Residents were warned that if the bridging was not stopped, the blackouts would continue.
Some community members told the Pretoria News they had been without electricity for three days following a power failure many attributed to faulty supply by Eskom.
Meanwhile, Lebogang Mahaye, one of the administrators responsible for compliance and law enforcement, warned that officials found to be complicit in the illegal connections faced action.
“Its no longer business as usual where lawlessness goes unabated; we will take action. People will be fired following disciplinary action,” he warned those he said work as officials by day and do illegal connections at night.
“We will be targeting the hotspots and dealing with these (illegal) connections.” Mahaye said, urging the community to report corrupt officials.
“We have not had much time as administrators (and are) plagued with a lot of issues, but this is one of the first blitzes (yesterday) and, what we are seeing is that some material (used), is municipal material.”
“This must stop because it is short circuiting services and we cannot let this malfeasance to go on.”
“We are losing a billion rand in revenue in losses on electricity alone - between cable theft and illegal connections,” Mahaye said.
But, the DA in Tshwane has cast the blame on the administrators “imposed” on the city by the ANC-led province shortly before lockdown began.
According to DA mayoral candidate, Randall Williams, residents of Wards 6 and 67 in Mamelodi have been left to freeze in the dark for almost a week now and have been burning tyres and placing bricks on the road as a sign of their frustration at the incessant power cuts in the area.