Eskom technicians 'intimidated, assaulted and held hostage'

schumi

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Eskom has expressed concern about incidents in which its offices are blockaded and employees are intimidated and assaulted - and in some instances held hostage by community members.

Eskom said there were violent protest marches at its offices in Braam Fischer and Klipsruit in Soweto, Ivory Park, Orange Farm and Winterveldt last week alone.

Vandalisation of Eskom infrastructure was also a problem.

"The members of various communities bypass their meters, illegally connect themselves to the network and vandalise electricity infrastructure, which leads to sporadic power supply interruptions," Eskom's operations and maintenance manager Motlhabane Ramashi said.
"This is because the transformers become overloaded, particularly during winter, and subsequently catch fire or explode as their protections have been interfered with and vandalised," Ramashi said.

More at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...cians-intimidated-assaulted-and-held-hostage/
 
Most likely has something to do with these non-payers in Soweto not getting their free electricity restored.

They're forced to pay for heating gas, but want the electricity free - not as easy to steal the gas.

Soweto residents protest for electricity

It has been a tough two weeks for the residents of Orlando East, Soweto, after a substation caught fire leaving them without electricity with temperatures dropping.

Lerato Bile, who runs the Nthabiseng Daycare Centre which caters for about 60 children, told Sowetan life was extremely difficult in freezing weather without electricity in the facility.

"We have to buy gas every week so that we can be able to cook for the kids. Our priority, though, was to make sure that the kids are warm. We borrowed blankets so that we could keep all the kids warm. It has been very difficult to us," said Bile.

While a similar establishment had closed its doors after losing power, Bile said theirs had to remain open.
"Some of the parents do not have any other option. They leave their kids here and have no other place they can take them. We could not shut down our service, the parents have already paid."

Yesterday, Orlando East residents blocked roads leading to the area, protesting against the power outage.

Technicians were sent to the area yesterday and residents abandoned their protest and began cleaning the streets.

Patience Nkoe, one of the residents, said when the outage was reported to Eskom on June 21, they were told that the people who could fix the substation were not around and would only be available on June 24. But they were still waiting.

A community meeting was informed by a delegation which had gone to local Eskom offices that power would not be restored because residents were not paying their electricity bills, Nkoe said.

"We then decided to close the streets because we felt that is the only language that Eskom could understand. We also went to the local Eskom offices and blockaded the entrance there. Here they are and they are fixing the substation," Nkoe said.

Nkoe admitted that a lot of residents were not paying their bills because they "were not working". "We don't have the money that Eskom is asking from us. Where are you expected to get R4,000."

Revenue collection in Soweto has been a huge problem for Eskom for years with many residents not paying or illegally connecting electricity. Last week, it was reported that in six months, residents' debt increased by more than R1bn to R18bn.

Efforts to get comment from power utility were unsuccessful yesterday. - LOL
 
Eskom technicians 'threatened' in Diepsloot, Rea Vaya station attacked in Soweto

Eskom has vowed not to attend to faults in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg. It says its technicians were chased out of the area and threatened with violence.

The utility made the announcement on Wednesday and said it would resume work only when it was safe to return to the area.

"Eskom technicians have been chased out of Diepsloot and threatened with violence as they were busy with their daily operations..

More at : https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/so...iepsloot-rea-vaya-station-attacked-in-soweto/
 
Voters get what they vote for

Politicians deal with those that voted for them as politicians set an example for others to live by

Seems to me that Karma is a B*TCH eh Soweto and ANC?
 
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