19 February 2025
Diepsloot residents picketed outside the offices of the Gauteng Premier asking for help in their dispute with Eskom. Photo: Silver Sibiya
Dozens of protesters from Diepsloot picketed outside the Johannesburg office of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on Tuesday to ask him to intervene in their dispute with Eskom.
They say when Eskom’s transformers broke down, they bought their own transformers which Eskom has removed.
The residents, mostly from Extension 6, want the transformers returned and connected to the grid.
Last year GroundUp wrote about problems with electricity in Extension 2. The transformer supplying the offices of the South African Depression And Anxiety Group (SADAG), and Lawyers Against Abuse broke down in May 2023. The organisations were forced to use generators.
At the time, Eskom spokesperson Amanda Qithi said: “In most areas within Diepsloot, communities have illegally installed their own transformers on the Eskom network, in the process damaging the electricity infrastructure and making it unsafe for Eskom technicians to operate on. The communities’ illegal operations on the Eskom network make it inoperable and unsafe,” she said.
Community leader Edward Mokoele said on Tuesday that power cuts had led the community to install its own transformers.
He said Eskom had removed all the transformers, even those which had not been illegally installed. Protesters wanted Eskom to return all the transformers and register them, he said.
Qithi said those who had been illegally using electricity had been disconnected and asked to pay a “remedial fee” of R500.
When 60% of those involved have paid, connections could be restored, she said. Work is underway to install smart meters for those who had paid.
“After installing the smart meters and pole top boxes, we will normalise the network and then install the transformers and thereafter restore supply. At this stage, we cannot give an estimation of when work will be concluded, but the contractors are busy with work.”
She said 35 transformers had been removed.
Qithi said the removal of the transformers was “part of Eskom’s ongoing efforts to reclaim its network and alleviate the strain caused by unauthorised and illegal electricity connections.”
In the 2022/23 financial year Eskom lost R5-billion from illegal connections, meter bypasses, and other criminal activities, she said.
She said illegally connected transformers destabilised the network, causing frequent supply interruptions, extended outages, and poor service for paying customers, and were a danger to Eskom technicians.
Dan Mbovu from the Premier’s office promised to meet with the community and councillor in the next seven days.