Residents of various areas in Khayelitsha marched to the Eskom depot in Khayelitsha to hand a memorandum of grievances over on Tuesday 13 October. The march was organised by Amadoda Aqotho and the Cry of the Xcluded organisation.
Among their grievances were non-functioning streetlights, faulty transformers, a lack of electricity connections in some informal settlements, and a demand for electricity faults to be fixed within 48 hours. They gave Eskom officials seven days to respond.
Faniswa Sonjica, Eskom’s Khayelitsha customer relations area manager, received the memorandum and promised to respond to the grievances promptly. She apologised for the delay, explaining that staffing levels had dropped significantly. Sonjica said those with reference numbers would be attended to soon. She said that, as an entity, Eskom also wanted to generate revenue.
“Electricity is a basic need; everyone has a right to it. We will ensure every household has electricity.”
We decided to engage Eskom directly
Amadoda Qotho chairperson Sabelo Zekevu said his organisation was concerned about Eskom’s delay in repairing electricity faults in Khayelitsha, its lack of rapid response that would be experienced elsewhere.
“When we were doing our door-to-door programme in the communities, trying to recruit and engage with residents, we saw some houses and shacks didn’t have electricity, while others had problems with their electricity boxes. Most of them had been sitting with their reference numbers for up to six months and Eskom was nowhere to be found. So we decided to come here and engage with its people directly.”
He said crime was escalating due to malfunctioning streetlights.
Resident: Without electricity for more than three months
One resident, Khanyo Mantshi from Nkanini informal settlement, who is wheelchair-bound, criticised Eskom and accused it of being incompetent.
“It is difficult for me when there is no electricity. Some of my medication I must keep in the fridge. I struggle a lot. It’s now been more than three months without electricity.”
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