Cape Town - An elderly woman and her grandchildren have been without electricity since the beginning of May.
Beauty Mngxunya, a pensioner from Tembani in Khayelitsha, lives with her two grandchildren and they are dependent on her social grant.
Her daughter, Thembisa Mngxunya, said it has been hard on her mother to live without electricity for this long.
Mngxunya said when she asked about it she was told her mother was due for an audit because she buys less than a minimum of R300 every month.
“They said they would come to her house to see if her electricity box was not tempered with, and I was shocked they even thought of that,” she said.
She said the situation is getting worse with the onset of winter.
She said her mother now used a paraffin heater for cooking, boiling water and sometimes to light the house if there are no candles.
Mngxunya said it was very costly for her mother because she has to buy paraffin every day.
“This time of the year when it gets cold, those selling paraffin sell it at ridiculous prices because it is in demand and the social grant she gets is not enough,” she said.
She said all they wanted was for the electricity to be running again because her mother would never tamper with the box.
After the Weekend Argus sent out an enquiry to Eskom, Mngxunya received an SMS which says: “Good day customer case reference numbers 432 850 893 please note that your fault has been reported.
“Please ensure that someone is at the premises for our technicians when they visit the premises.
“Our technicians will attend to your fault (between 8am and 4pm) Monday to Saturday.
“Regards Eskom.”
Eskom spokesperson Kyle Cookson said they were aware of the situation and would make contact with the customer.
Weekend Argus