Khayelitsha Residents Protest Removal of Illegal Connections by Eskom

Protesters blocked Swartklip Road with burning tyres after Eskom and law enforcement officials removed illegal electricity connections from a substation in New Monwabisi Park,

Protesters continued to block Swartklip Road in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, with burning tyres on Friday. The protests started on Wednesday after Eskom and law enforcement officials removed illegal electricity connections from a substation at Area L sewage pump station in New Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha.

Community leader Donavan Koopman said cars and shacks were broken into on Wednesday night because the area was left in the dark by the removal of the illegal connections.

“Eskom is busy with an electrification project in Zone Two and other areas, but the project will take long to reach us,’’ he said.

“Eskom must install electricity temporarily [from the substation] while we wait,’’ he said.

Koopman said 256 families were connecting to the substation to light their shacks and power their TVs.

‘’We don’t use a lot of electricity because we don’t use stoves and heaters,’’ he said.

Laeeqah Davids, who stays with her sister and five children, said, “Mornings are dark. How do the authorities expect our children to walk in the dark through the graveyard to school?”

“Our phone batteries are dead. How do our kids call us when they have emergencies?”

Velaphi Khumalo, who survives on a disability grant and stays with his wife and six children, said, “We want to get electricity boxes along with free electricity because most of us don’t work.”

Marusca Bason, who stays with her three kids and her boyfriend, said the removal of the illegal connections had left the shack dwellers unable to use their electrical appliances.

“If you go to the formal houses to ask that your phone be charged, you must pay R10,’’ she said.

The shack dwellers want Eskom to return the electrical wires they seized on Wednesday.

She said, “We used our SASSA grants to buy the wire. Now we must wait for another grant day before we buy wire again.’’

Comment from Eskom will be added when received.

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