Three-day protest in Soweto over power outages

Residents clean up the debris from the protests to allow access for Eskom’s technicians. Photo: Silver Sibiya

Residents of Meadowlands, Soweto, took to the streets for the third consecutive day on Thursday to protest over power outages. Roads were blocked with rocks and burning tyres.

The area is already faced with “load reduction” on a daily basis with scheduled power cuts, but for the past three weeks there have been power outages sometimes lasting days at a time, according to the protesters.

In some parts of Meadowlands, electricity was out for four days last week, said resident Tshidiso Makamu. In other parts, there was no electricity for two days.

“There is no communication. We just find ourselves with no electricity without knowing what the issue is,” said Makamu.

Community leaders say they were told the power outages were due to stolen cables.

Eskom Gauteng Spokesperson Amanda Qithi had not responded to our questions at the time of publication. But Eskom posted on X on Thursday afternoon that their technicians were unable to work in the area due to the protest.

“We urgently appeal to the community to allow our employees safe access to continue their work. Restoring electricity is in everyone’s best interest, but we will not compromise the safety of our staff,” the post read.

Protestors told GroundUp that on Thursday morning, Eskom said power would be restored by 4pm, but only if they stopped protesting. The protestors removed the debris blocking the streets to make way for Eskom’s teams.

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