1 August 2024
Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Khayelitsha to Eskom’s offices on Thursday, demanding that the power utility reopen its service centre. Photo: Vincent Lali
Hundreds of angry Khayelitsha residents marched to Eskom’s offices in the area, demanding that the power utility re-open its service centre.
On 28 June Eskom closed its service centres in Khayelitsha and Bellville in Cape Town. This meant that customers in these areas had to rely on pop-up offices and the online fault report service, Alfred the Chatbot, to report problems or query bills.
On Thursday, residents marched under the umbrella of the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO). Marchers shouted: ‘’Eskom vula’’ (Eskom, open) and carried placards that read: “Bring back Eskom offices’’ and “Attend to our references”.
Zoleka Makhananda, secretary of SANCO’s Hector Pieterson branch, said the closure had made residents “revert to old ways of living” such as cooking on paraffin stoves. “Eskom closed the offices without consulting residents,” she said, adding that there was no fast way for residents to log faults.
Resident Nothamsi Hlekiso said she joined the protest because her electricity box has not been working for four months. “I have four different reference numbers, but Eskom still hasn’t attended to them,” she said.
Hlekiso is forced to use her old age grant to buy paraffin to cook and buy candles to light her shack. “I have no money to go to Eskom offices in Brackenfell,” she said.
Ward councillor Lucky Mbiza said he had been getting electricity complaints from residents which should be going to Eskom.
“Eskom officials told residents to report faults to us and get us to send their complaints to them. We are not Eskom employees. Now residents take their anger out on us and insult us when their complaints are not resolved,” he said.
One area had been without electricity for three months now, he said.
In its memorandum of demands, the community demands that Eskomre-open its centre in the area immediately and attends to queries and complaints “promptly and efficiently to avoid further inconvenience and frustration”.
The protesters also want new meter boxes for fire victims and shack dwellers in new and old informal settlements to stop illegal connections.
They gave Eskom until next Friday, 9 August to respond to their demands.
Trisha Da Silva, from Eskom Western Cape, accepted the memorandum and promised to respond.