Residents of Hebron, north of Pretoria, have been without power since Saturday after the collapse of a transformer at a substation in the area.
It was allegedly caused by overloading due to illegal connections and residents using counterfeit vouchers to illegally draw electricity.
Lebogang Bonoko is one of the affected residents. “My frustration is that my mother has a heart condition and I also have a down syndrome boy. So if their medication is not refrigerated especially the boy, he develops diarrhea or vomiting. So I definitely need electricity because it is really frustrating on my part.”
Power outage in Thabong
Meanwhile, the power utility says it’s working hard to restore electricity in several parts of Thabong in Welkom, Free State. More than 400 households have been without power since Monday.
Free State Eskom spokesperson Stefanie Jansen van Rensburg says the power outage was caused by lightning during a heavy rainstorm in the area. Jansen van Rensburg says they hope to restore power later Wednesday night.
Pre-paid electricity meters for Soweto
Earlier, Eskom urged Soweto residents to install pre-paid electricity meters. Eskom’s Operations and Maintenance Manager Daphne Mokwena says their technicians are installing prepaid meters in the area to deal with the huge R18-billion debt owed by Soweto residents.
She says this will also help with illegal connections. Mokwena says the power utility is owed billions by various municipalities across the country and is looking at various repayment options.
“There are two issues in Soweto, in particular. It’s illegal connections where we have installed pre-paid meters where customers would have bridged meters, and secondly, where customers are buying from illegal vendors. Number two, it’s where we have credit meters if customers do not pay hence we have to disconnect, that is why we find ourselves seating with a huge bill. We urge the community to allow us to install the split meters which is the pre-paid meters.”
