The expression of joy and gratitude on the face a woman from Kagiso, Johannesburg, who was about to have electricity reconnected to her home after three years of darkness, was evident on Sunday evening.
She and other members of her community were filmed thanking and embracing Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi who led a team to connect power transformers in the neighbourhood, after lengthy periods of complete blackouts. Some people have called out this move as politically opportunistic ahead of a general election in which the ANC’s hold on power in Gauteng is hanging by a thread.
Such criticism is not unfounded, although we must agree that the most important thing is that the government has finally responded, at least in this community. Despite what politicians tell you, in reality electricity provision in Gauteng is, at best, poor and unreliable even beyond the loadshedding crisis.
A lack of maintenance, illegal connections and widespread onslaught by criminal syndicates who are pilfering cables on a grand scale has all but collapsed our infrastructure. Add to this the constant attacks and intimidation of state technicians who are deployed to different communities.
In September, the city could not collect R71.3m that is owed for electricity as City Power technicians faced intimidation from 143 customers. So prevalent are such attacks that the City of Joburg has threatened to pull some communities off its grid because the situation is untenable for its staff.
While the delivery of transformers in Kagiso and elsewhere are a welcome intervention, albeit delayed, the situation is a lot more complex than that. It requires a comprehensive approach by the responsible arms of the state, including the local government and law enforcement to deal with threats to power supply.
The government has a constitutional responsibility to provide electricity, including maintaining infrastructure. However, with the necessary support, communities must also shoulder the responsibility to preserve infrastructure meant to serve our basic needs.
SOWETAN | Residents must work with state
Image: City of Tshwane
The expression of joy and gratitude on the face a woman from Kagiso, Johannesburg, who was about to have electricity reconnected to her home after three years of darkness, was evident on Sunday evening.
She and other members of her community were filmed thanking and embracing Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi who led a team to connect power transformers in the neighbourhood, after lengthy periods of complete blackouts. Some people have called out this move as politically opportunistic ahead of a general election in which the ANC’s hold on power in Gauteng is hanging by a thread.
Such criticism is not unfounded, although we must agree that the most important thing is that the government has finally responded, at least in this community. Despite what politicians tell you, in reality electricity provision in Gauteng is, at best, poor and unreliable even beyond the loadshedding crisis.
A lack of maintenance, illegal connections and widespread onslaught by criminal syndicates who are pilfering cables on a grand scale has all but collapsed our infrastructure. Add to this the constant attacks and intimidation of state technicians who are deployed to different communities.
In September, the city could not collect R71.3m that is owed for electricity as City Power technicians faced intimidation from 143 customers. So prevalent are such attacks that the City of Joburg has threatened to pull some communities off its grid because the situation is untenable for its staff.
While the delivery of transformers in Kagiso and elsewhere are a welcome intervention, albeit delayed, the situation is a lot more complex than that. It requires a comprehensive approach by the responsible arms of the state, including the local government and law enforcement to deal with threats to power supply.
The government has a constitutional responsibility to provide electricity, including maintaining infrastructure. However, with the necessary support, communities must also shoulder the responsibility to preserve infrastructure meant to serve our basic needs.
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