PRESENTER: Anneliese Burgess
Hello and Welcome to another special assignment, thank you for joining us Im Anneliese Burgess. Soweto residents owe Eskom close on 900 million rands in electricity areas. This despite the cancellation of all debts in 1996. To recover costs Eskom began cutting off supplies and this year alone they have begun cutting-off 58000 house holds. Soweto residents say they want to pay the bills but cant afford to. In some areas they have resisted the cut offs with violence. Protests have taken place and the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee or SECC was set up. They response to the cut offs was to launch Operation Khanyisa. An informal network that reconnects consumers to the electricity grids illegally. Mpho Moagi has the story.
Climbing poles is all in a days work for this teenager. Hes still at school but after hours he works as a volunteer for Operation Khanyisa. Their mission is to reconnect electricity after Eskom has cut off the service. Khanyisas reconnections are illegal and not always safe.
Eskom can cut off the electricity to an entire street. I had to go and light the whole block where I stay after Eskom cut them off.
REPORTER: Mpho Moagi
Sifiso Sithole lives in Soweto with his grandmother, brothers and sisters. He goes to a local school and hopes one day to qualify as an electrician. He decided on this career and to volunteer for Operation Khanyisa - when his grandmother's electricity was cut off. She owed Eskom more than R10 000. Sifiso says they couldn't stay in the dark. So he hooked them up again.It was his first reconnection job.
SIFISO SITHOLE:I usually find time for reconnections after school or over weekends. You cant live without electricity. Paraffin causes headaches and you cant study with a candle.
Today his services are needed in Diepkloof, Soweto. Sifiso is one of many Khanyisa volunteers who reconnect consumers every day.
Eskom has designed a special key to open their boxes. But even without it, it takes Sifiso and his friends less than two minutes to get inside. Then they check out the distribution board and decide on the best way to cut, splice and reconnect the wires.
Kleinboot Matamela and his son had their electricity cut off only this morning. They owe Eskom R1 500.
MESHACK MATEMALA:Were poor, we cook on a primus stove. We pay R250 to Eskom and my father earns R570 a month. They found me sleeping and said theyd come to cut off the electricity. They said we owed Eskom money and must pay up.
It only takes one phone call to Operation Khanyisa to organise a reconnection. You report your cut off...and the volunteers are sent out. They work all over Soweto...but, being volunteers, they usually don't get taxi money. So they walk long distances.
People like Kleinboot depend on the volunteers. A hundred and one years old Kleinboot says he's not as strong as he used to be.
No one in his family has a job, so they rely on his pension. Kleinboot is angry and feels cheated by Eskom and the government...he says he has always paid his electricity, rent and service bills...after which he has no more than R20 to feed his family. He's still waiting for the special pensioner's rate that Eskom has promised.
But hes patience has now run out, hes decided to reconnect himself.
MESHACK:My father pays Every month. He doesnt miss a payment. He earns very little and all of us survive on his money. What upsets me is that Eskom has cut our electricity. They dont care that my fathers old.
MESHACK:Today they cut off my fathers electricity. This is my fathers last bill. We us electricity for two things the stove to cook on and the kettle to boil water.
It doesnt take long to get the electricity running again.
MESHACK:Things will better now that people from Operation Khanyisa have come to help us. For the moment, my father will have peace of mind.
Kleinboot's not the only one who's been cut off today... no less than 20 houses in his street were disconnected this morning. To reconnect a whole block can take an entire day.
Sifiso admits that working with electricity is dangerous. He only has the most basic equipment: a bread knife, pliers and plastic bags for insulation. But he says if you know what you're doing, and you're extremely careful, there shouldnt be an accident.
SIFISO:My granny earns R520...with that money she must pay for electricity and groceries. My siblings and I are all dependent on my granny So I decided to join Operation Khanyisa to help people who are poor like my granny. When my granny used to pay her electricity bill, I didnt have lunch money. I didnt have food to eat in the mornings or at lunch. Sometimes I would even go without food after school.
Almost 30% of Soweto households are connected illegally. Eskom says residents don't have to wait until they're cut off...there are many walk-in centers where customers can inquire about their arrears and negotiate payments.
CUSTOMER CARE: If you used R291 worth of electricity, then you must pay the full amount.
CLIENT: Yes, remember after we spoke last month, I paid R300.
Customer care: Oh, so you did pay So theyve cut off your electricity?
When we visited the center, all the customers there had already been cut off. And they didn't understand their accounts.
JACOB:Cut off in electricity are part of the business. I mean where you sell a service and at the end of 30 days you need to get paid for that service and if the service is not paid for then you discontinue that service. The percentage payment level in Soweto on average has been about 55% per annum that is, we receive only 55% that we supposed to receive in terms of what we sold.
Residents responded to Eskom cut-offs by forming the Soweto Electicity Crisis Committee. They march in protest and mobilise residents. They accuse Eskom of ignoring unemployment and poverty and they're armed with: whistles!!! which they blow to warn residents of Eskom employees are in the area.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:They more you pay Eskom the more Eskom want and the higher the bill becomes. (crowd applause). Eskom doesnt discriminate with its cut-offs. Whether you pay or not, it doesnt matter.
SIMON MAZIBUKO:The pensioners must stop paying until Eskom calls us for a meeting.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:On June 22nd we were at the Eskom offices on the 16th floor. We were fighting with Eskom until we staged a sit in. we Said, we are sleeping here we are not leaving until Eskom gives us an answer. Let me tell you people, even today neither Eskom nor the government has answered us. We as residents are saying, Away with unrealistic arrears Eskom must write off all the debt. We want a R50 flat rate and special rates for pensioners.
BONGANI LUBISI:They taught us hot to be violent. We will fight fire with fire. Yesterday someone blew a whistle in our location. We responded and beat them up. So a whistle is still our weapon.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:We are claiming what is rightfully ours from Eskom. We are saying, Eskom we do not owe you anything, you owe us!
SIMON MAZIBUKO:Today we are here to boycott. We are saying, Away with electricity and rent payments! We do not want to see anyone making a payment.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:They're liars! Our vote is our power!
Kagiso is not far from Soweto. Here the fight for power has led to more dramatic conflict. While we were filming four men from Kagiso hostel died in a violent dispute over access to cables. And home-owners say theyre forced by hostel dwellers -- to share their electricity cables.
JACKY MOSEKOA:There is a box down there and the people of the hostel are digging down the box and trying the connecting the wire from the box to the hostel. So sometimes the houses here all this area it comes off because of that people of the hostel. When they taking our electricity. Now and then the electricity comes off then we phone people of Eskom, sometimes they come and sometimes they dont come, we stay about two or three days without electricity. Ive tried to speak to the guys of the hostel especially the Indunas.
BEN ZWANE:When residents report to me or another induna, our lives are at risk. Not all of us have electricity here. If I try to stop them, they say, You are working and I am not, how do you expect me to survive: People are forced to steal electricity. The reason is poverty. They dont do it because they like it.
JACKY MOSEKOA:Weve got a kit down there there were wires running from that box to the hostel. There were kids sometimes that were playing there, when they play one of them plays with those wires and they shocked him and shes dead.
BEN ZWANE:People kill each other here in the hostel because they fight over one connection. All of us want electricity. If you manage to connect yourself illegally and I come and steal from your connection that could mean my death. This is the reason so many people have died.
JACKY MOSEKOA:In month end when they send in the bills our bills is so high. Some of our people they are not working and some of them are pensioners so when they see people are not paying they just come in during the day to come and cut off.
BEN ZWANE:Weve told the residents that wed been talking to the hostel dwellers for a long time but got nowhere. We suggested that they call the police to sort out this problem. Otherwise its up to Eskom. When they notice an illegal connection they should follow the wire. It will lead them straight to someones room. they can ask that person if he is responsible for the connection. If he is, they should arrest him on the spot.
JACKY MOSEKOA:We trying to fight with them so they musnt cut off, up to so far we are still fighting today.
=======================================================
PART 2
Electricity is not a tangible commodity...but it still costs a lot of money to produce. For instance, it will cost Eskom over 12-billion-rand to build this power plun today.
But consumers say Eskom is just after more money...they say prices are too high, arrears cripple them and billing is unreliable. That's why they're reconnecting. Even if its illegal.
Consumers are also confused about Governments promise of free electricity. Government has said it will guarantee free basic electricity of 50 kilowatts per month by 2003. But a four-roomed house like most in Soweto, require nearly 600k/W per month for their basic electricity needs. Less than 10% of electricity will be free.
MAROGA:There are a number of issues that affect payment. I think one social community isssues obviously in arrears like soweto poverty and the issue of free electricity and the way the want the government to go with it. I think is motivated by that there community issues. But there are a lot of issues, the lotto I think takes about two billion per annum now our total domestic market is around 2 billion. The cellphones take about 16 billion per annum, the casinos takes about 5 billion prior to 6 billion. When you add all of those its about 24 billion industry around the lotto, the casinos and the cellphones. Now what is Eskoms total revenue it is about 24 billions worth so they compete for the same disposable income that we have. So those things impact on what is available to pay for electricity to pay for other services.
6:30 pm. The Soweto Electicity Crisis Committee are holding yet another community meeting. Tonight theyre in Orlando West.
Not everyone is unwilling to pay...many residents we met were paying small parts of their bills every month. But with arrears of up to 30 sometimes 50,000rand, theyre unable to settle the full amount.
At every meeting boys and girls are recruited to join Khanyisa. They get training from out of work electricians often even former Eskom employees! The recruits get lists of those whove recently been cut off those homes are where theyll start. But they dont only spend their time on illegal connections they also help to chase Eskom employees out of the neighbourhood.
Its the next morning in Orlando West. Operation Khanyisa is on its way to help those who wrote their names on the list at last night's meeting.
SIFISO: Did you phone the office?
OLD WOMAN: yes.
SIFISO: Please show us your electricity box.
Eunice Zwane is a pensioner...Shes been without power for months now. She says shes already used to the discomfort. But after dark, she gets scared. She lives on an exposed corner and shes afraid she might become a target for criminals.
EUNICE ZWANE:Oh I am so happy.
She says it is so dark that neither the her nor the nighbours will see the criminals until they are right inside the house.
SIFISO:I brought your meter. Can I show you that you now have electricity?
EUNICE:Im so grateful. At last Ill be able to sleep peacefully. Now Ill be able to drink a cup of tea in the mornings instead of tap water God bless you. There are those papers telling me theyre going to cut me off.
SIFISO:When Eskom employees come here please chase them away. You should buy a whistle for them and then blow it like this. Youll see theyll run away.
EUNICE:I am definitely going to buy a whistle.
Eskom says reconnecting is not only unsafe but its a crime.
MONDE:This space was for the meters but when this guy doesnt pay his electricity what customer services will do is they will do the audits and they will do all the follow ups and they will remove the meter and the cables from this and the circuit breakers because they have terminated the customer on their side. But then this guy will come and connect himself illegally and when he does that he affects the whole network and the safety of his kids and the safety of all the guys of which are staying in this house. They develop a fault within the house. This doesnt trip because there is no circuit breaker to isolate the house, it goes and trips onto our pillar boxes or it trips into our mini sub stations. When it trips the mini sub stations it means the whole neighbourhood is off because this hasnt been properly done.
MAROGA:The amount of debt owed by soweto residents alone is about 900 million. We have an obligation to supply customers with electricity. They have an obligation also to pay for that service.
SIFISO:The reason we say well beat Eskom employees is because theyre rude. When they enter your yard they dont ask if anyones at home. All you see is someone working on your meter. You dont know whether its a criminal or an Eskom employee. Thats why well beat them up by entering your yard, they take the into their own hands.
Nhlanhla Madinane is an Eskom field meter reader. If residents are at home, he gives them their accounts on the spot. Its Eskom new way of trying to solve inconsistent billing and metering. But Nhlanhla is starting to dreading the whistle that makes him a target hes been attacked before...
NHLANHLA MADINANE:When you say youre from Eskom everyone thinks you are here to cut off their electricity. People get aggressive as soon as you enter their yard. When they see you coming they lock their gates. Or set their dogs on you.
Heres your bill.
OLD MAN: My bill is still R2000? What exactly am I supposed to pay?
NHLANHLA: Your negotiated current account amount is R146. Thats why you must pay.
OLD MAN: What does negotiated mean?
NHLANHLA: Its R146 for current usage and the R23. That makes it R169 After Ive been on my rounds in an area, Ive been on my rounds in an area. I dont go back for a long time. Im alone in the field and theres no security. Im not safe My job description is to take readings and nothing more, Im not going to cut anyones electricity off or anything you see. Every day when my collegues and I get back from the field, we talk about our experiences. There are always complaints. Either you were chased by a dog or by residents. There are always complaints. Working with people is never easy.
MARCH SING: we are fighting for our rights!Consumers have little confidence in Eskom. They want government to take action.Government is not ignoring the problem. They say if a household earns less than R1 000 a month, it will get a discount of up to R86 on municipal service charges.
Soweto residents are not convinced. They want a R50 flat rate for electricity. Many residents were paying part of their bills every month. But with arrears up to 30 and sometimes 50 thousand rands their unable to settle the full amount.
Eskom says theyre looking for solutions theyve designed the "intelligence metering. This remote controlled system allows them to disconnect users, without sending in workers. It operates like a prepaid cellphone when units run out the electricity cuts off. This system is expensive and its not quite clear how it will solve the problem.
In the meantime, the Marchers want to disconnect the concillors electricity. So he too can feel what its like to be cut off. From next year the National Electricity Regulator has approved a 6.2% price hike something that could add fuel to the fire. (Burning of bills) Eskom cuts off our electricity all the time! and every resident continue burning their bill
Hello and Welcome to another special assignment, thank you for joining us Im Anneliese Burgess. Soweto residents owe Eskom close on 900 million rands in electricity areas. This despite the cancellation of all debts in 1996. To recover costs Eskom began cutting off supplies and this year alone they have begun cutting-off 58000 house holds. Soweto residents say they want to pay the bills but cant afford to. In some areas they have resisted the cut offs with violence. Protests have taken place and the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee or SECC was set up. They response to the cut offs was to launch Operation Khanyisa. An informal network that reconnects consumers to the electricity grids illegally. Mpho Moagi has the story.
Climbing poles is all in a days work for this teenager. Hes still at school but after hours he works as a volunteer for Operation Khanyisa. Their mission is to reconnect electricity after Eskom has cut off the service. Khanyisas reconnections are illegal and not always safe.
Eskom can cut off the electricity to an entire street. I had to go and light the whole block where I stay after Eskom cut them off.
REPORTER: Mpho Moagi
Sifiso Sithole lives in Soweto with his grandmother, brothers and sisters. He goes to a local school and hopes one day to qualify as an electrician. He decided on this career and to volunteer for Operation Khanyisa - when his grandmother's electricity was cut off. She owed Eskom more than R10 000. Sifiso says they couldn't stay in the dark. So he hooked them up again.It was his first reconnection job.
SIFISO SITHOLE:I usually find time for reconnections after school or over weekends. You cant live without electricity. Paraffin causes headaches and you cant study with a candle.
Today his services are needed in Diepkloof, Soweto. Sifiso is one of many Khanyisa volunteers who reconnect consumers every day.
Eskom has designed a special key to open their boxes. But even without it, it takes Sifiso and his friends less than two minutes to get inside. Then they check out the distribution board and decide on the best way to cut, splice and reconnect the wires.
Kleinboot Matamela and his son had their electricity cut off only this morning. They owe Eskom R1 500.
MESHACK MATEMALA:Were poor, we cook on a primus stove. We pay R250 to Eskom and my father earns R570 a month. They found me sleeping and said theyd come to cut off the electricity. They said we owed Eskom money and must pay up.
It only takes one phone call to Operation Khanyisa to organise a reconnection. You report your cut off...and the volunteers are sent out. They work all over Soweto...but, being volunteers, they usually don't get taxi money. So they walk long distances.
People like Kleinboot depend on the volunteers. A hundred and one years old Kleinboot says he's not as strong as he used to be.
No one in his family has a job, so they rely on his pension. Kleinboot is angry and feels cheated by Eskom and the government...he says he has always paid his electricity, rent and service bills...after which he has no more than R20 to feed his family. He's still waiting for the special pensioner's rate that Eskom has promised.
But hes patience has now run out, hes decided to reconnect himself.
MESHACK:My father pays Every month. He doesnt miss a payment. He earns very little and all of us survive on his money. What upsets me is that Eskom has cut our electricity. They dont care that my fathers old.
MESHACK:Today they cut off my fathers electricity. This is my fathers last bill. We us electricity for two things the stove to cook on and the kettle to boil water.
It doesnt take long to get the electricity running again.
MESHACK:Things will better now that people from Operation Khanyisa have come to help us. For the moment, my father will have peace of mind.
Kleinboot's not the only one who's been cut off today... no less than 20 houses in his street were disconnected this morning. To reconnect a whole block can take an entire day.
Sifiso admits that working with electricity is dangerous. He only has the most basic equipment: a bread knife, pliers and plastic bags for insulation. But he says if you know what you're doing, and you're extremely careful, there shouldnt be an accident.
SIFISO:My granny earns R520...with that money she must pay for electricity and groceries. My siblings and I are all dependent on my granny So I decided to join Operation Khanyisa to help people who are poor like my granny. When my granny used to pay her electricity bill, I didnt have lunch money. I didnt have food to eat in the mornings or at lunch. Sometimes I would even go without food after school.
Almost 30% of Soweto households are connected illegally. Eskom says residents don't have to wait until they're cut off...there are many walk-in centers where customers can inquire about their arrears and negotiate payments.
CUSTOMER CARE: If you used R291 worth of electricity, then you must pay the full amount.
CLIENT: Yes, remember after we spoke last month, I paid R300.
Customer care: Oh, so you did pay So theyve cut off your electricity?
When we visited the center, all the customers there had already been cut off. And they didn't understand their accounts.
JACOB:Cut off in electricity are part of the business. I mean where you sell a service and at the end of 30 days you need to get paid for that service and if the service is not paid for then you discontinue that service. The percentage payment level in Soweto on average has been about 55% per annum that is, we receive only 55% that we supposed to receive in terms of what we sold.
Residents responded to Eskom cut-offs by forming the Soweto Electicity Crisis Committee. They march in protest and mobilise residents. They accuse Eskom of ignoring unemployment and poverty and they're armed with: whistles!!! which they blow to warn residents of Eskom employees are in the area.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:They more you pay Eskom the more Eskom want and the higher the bill becomes. (crowd applause). Eskom doesnt discriminate with its cut-offs. Whether you pay or not, it doesnt matter.
SIMON MAZIBUKO:The pensioners must stop paying until Eskom calls us for a meeting.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:On June 22nd we were at the Eskom offices on the 16th floor. We were fighting with Eskom until we staged a sit in. we Said, we are sleeping here we are not leaving until Eskom gives us an answer. Let me tell you people, even today neither Eskom nor the government has answered us. We as residents are saying, Away with unrealistic arrears Eskom must write off all the debt. We want a R50 flat rate and special rates for pensioners.
BONGANI LUBISI:They taught us hot to be violent. We will fight fire with fire. Yesterday someone blew a whistle in our location. We responded and beat them up. So a whistle is still our weapon.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:We are claiming what is rightfully ours from Eskom. We are saying, Eskom we do not owe you anything, you owe us!
SIMON MAZIBUKO:Today we are here to boycott. We are saying, Away with electricity and rent payments! We do not want to see anyone making a payment.
DUDU MPHENYEKE:They're liars! Our vote is our power!
Kagiso is not far from Soweto. Here the fight for power has led to more dramatic conflict. While we were filming four men from Kagiso hostel died in a violent dispute over access to cables. And home-owners say theyre forced by hostel dwellers -- to share their electricity cables.
JACKY MOSEKOA:There is a box down there and the people of the hostel are digging down the box and trying the connecting the wire from the box to the hostel. So sometimes the houses here all this area it comes off because of that people of the hostel. When they taking our electricity. Now and then the electricity comes off then we phone people of Eskom, sometimes they come and sometimes they dont come, we stay about two or three days without electricity. Ive tried to speak to the guys of the hostel especially the Indunas.
BEN ZWANE:When residents report to me or another induna, our lives are at risk. Not all of us have electricity here. If I try to stop them, they say, You are working and I am not, how do you expect me to survive: People are forced to steal electricity. The reason is poverty. They dont do it because they like it.
JACKY MOSEKOA:Weve got a kit down there there were wires running from that box to the hostel. There were kids sometimes that were playing there, when they play one of them plays with those wires and they shocked him and shes dead.
BEN ZWANE:People kill each other here in the hostel because they fight over one connection. All of us want electricity. If you manage to connect yourself illegally and I come and steal from your connection that could mean my death. This is the reason so many people have died.
JACKY MOSEKOA:In month end when they send in the bills our bills is so high. Some of our people they are not working and some of them are pensioners so when they see people are not paying they just come in during the day to come and cut off.
BEN ZWANE:Weve told the residents that wed been talking to the hostel dwellers for a long time but got nowhere. We suggested that they call the police to sort out this problem. Otherwise its up to Eskom. When they notice an illegal connection they should follow the wire. It will lead them straight to someones room. they can ask that person if he is responsible for the connection. If he is, they should arrest him on the spot.
JACKY MOSEKOA:We trying to fight with them so they musnt cut off, up to so far we are still fighting today.
=======================================================
PART 2
Electricity is not a tangible commodity...but it still costs a lot of money to produce. For instance, it will cost Eskom over 12-billion-rand to build this power plun today.
But consumers say Eskom is just after more money...they say prices are too high, arrears cripple them and billing is unreliable. That's why they're reconnecting. Even if its illegal.
Consumers are also confused about Governments promise of free electricity. Government has said it will guarantee free basic electricity of 50 kilowatts per month by 2003. But a four-roomed house like most in Soweto, require nearly 600k/W per month for their basic electricity needs. Less than 10% of electricity will be free.
MAROGA:There are a number of issues that affect payment. I think one social community isssues obviously in arrears like soweto poverty and the issue of free electricity and the way the want the government to go with it. I think is motivated by that there community issues. But there are a lot of issues, the lotto I think takes about two billion per annum now our total domestic market is around 2 billion. The cellphones take about 16 billion per annum, the casinos takes about 5 billion prior to 6 billion. When you add all of those its about 24 billion industry around the lotto, the casinos and the cellphones. Now what is Eskoms total revenue it is about 24 billions worth so they compete for the same disposable income that we have. So those things impact on what is available to pay for electricity to pay for other services.
6:30 pm. The Soweto Electicity Crisis Committee are holding yet another community meeting. Tonight theyre in Orlando West.
Not everyone is unwilling to pay...many residents we met were paying small parts of their bills every month. But with arrears of up to 30 sometimes 50,000rand, theyre unable to settle the full amount.
At every meeting boys and girls are recruited to join Khanyisa. They get training from out of work electricians often even former Eskom employees! The recruits get lists of those whove recently been cut off those homes are where theyll start. But they dont only spend their time on illegal connections they also help to chase Eskom employees out of the neighbourhood.
Its the next morning in Orlando West. Operation Khanyisa is on its way to help those who wrote their names on the list at last night's meeting.
SIFISO: Did you phone the office?
OLD WOMAN: yes.
SIFISO: Please show us your electricity box.
Eunice Zwane is a pensioner...Shes been without power for months now. She says shes already used to the discomfort. But after dark, she gets scared. She lives on an exposed corner and shes afraid she might become a target for criminals.
EUNICE ZWANE:Oh I am so happy.
She says it is so dark that neither the her nor the nighbours will see the criminals until they are right inside the house.
SIFISO:I brought your meter. Can I show you that you now have electricity?
EUNICE:Im so grateful. At last Ill be able to sleep peacefully. Now Ill be able to drink a cup of tea in the mornings instead of tap water God bless you. There are those papers telling me theyre going to cut me off.
SIFISO:When Eskom employees come here please chase them away. You should buy a whistle for them and then blow it like this. Youll see theyll run away.
EUNICE:I am definitely going to buy a whistle.
Eskom says reconnecting is not only unsafe but its a crime.
MONDE:This space was for the meters but when this guy doesnt pay his electricity what customer services will do is they will do the audits and they will do all the follow ups and they will remove the meter and the cables from this and the circuit breakers because they have terminated the customer on their side. But then this guy will come and connect himself illegally and when he does that he affects the whole network and the safety of his kids and the safety of all the guys of which are staying in this house. They develop a fault within the house. This doesnt trip because there is no circuit breaker to isolate the house, it goes and trips onto our pillar boxes or it trips into our mini sub stations. When it trips the mini sub stations it means the whole neighbourhood is off because this hasnt been properly done.
MAROGA:The amount of debt owed by soweto residents alone is about 900 million. We have an obligation to supply customers with electricity. They have an obligation also to pay for that service.
SIFISO:The reason we say well beat Eskom employees is because theyre rude. When they enter your yard they dont ask if anyones at home. All you see is someone working on your meter. You dont know whether its a criminal or an Eskom employee. Thats why well beat them up by entering your yard, they take the into their own hands.
Nhlanhla Madinane is an Eskom field meter reader. If residents are at home, he gives them their accounts on the spot. Its Eskom new way of trying to solve inconsistent billing and metering. But Nhlanhla is starting to dreading the whistle that makes him a target hes been attacked before...
NHLANHLA MADINANE:When you say youre from Eskom everyone thinks you are here to cut off their electricity. People get aggressive as soon as you enter their yard. When they see you coming they lock their gates. Or set their dogs on you.
Heres your bill.
OLD MAN: My bill is still R2000? What exactly am I supposed to pay?
NHLANHLA: Your negotiated current account amount is R146. Thats why you must pay.
OLD MAN: What does negotiated mean?
NHLANHLA: Its R146 for current usage and the R23. That makes it R169 After Ive been on my rounds in an area, Ive been on my rounds in an area. I dont go back for a long time. Im alone in the field and theres no security. Im not safe My job description is to take readings and nothing more, Im not going to cut anyones electricity off or anything you see. Every day when my collegues and I get back from the field, we talk about our experiences. There are always complaints. Either you were chased by a dog or by residents. There are always complaints. Working with people is never easy.
MARCH SING: we are fighting for our rights!Consumers have little confidence in Eskom. They want government to take action.Government is not ignoring the problem. They say if a household earns less than R1 000 a month, it will get a discount of up to R86 on municipal service charges.
Soweto residents are not convinced. They want a R50 flat rate for electricity. Many residents were paying part of their bills every month. But with arrears up to 30 and sometimes 50 thousand rands their unable to settle the full amount.
Eskom says theyre looking for solutions theyve designed the "intelligence metering. This remote controlled system allows them to disconnect users, without sending in workers. It operates like a prepaid cellphone when units run out the electricity cuts off. This system is expensive and its not quite clear how it will solve the problem.
In the meantime, the Marchers want to disconnect the concillors electricity. So he too can feel what its like to be cut off. From next year the National Electricity Regulator has approved a 6.2% price hike something that could add fuel to the fire. (Burning of bills) Eskom cuts off our electricity all the time! and every resident continue burning their bill