AFTER WEEKS IN DARKNESS, ESKOM RESTORES POWER SUPPLY TO DIEPKLOOF

Eskom said that it had no choice but to disconnect supply, claiming it lost millions due to illegal connections, meter bypassing and residents buying electricity from so-called ghost vendors in the area.

Protestors outside Eskom's Megawatt Park head office in Sunninghill, Johannesburg on 12 November 2021. Picture: Xanderleigh Dookey Makhaza/Eyewitness News

Masechaba Sefularo | 

JOHANNESBURG - Residents in Diepkloof, Soweto, have received an early Christmas present as Eskom has restored their electricity following weeks of protests by the community who had been without power for several weeks.

Eskom said that it had no choice but to disconnect supply, claiming it lost millions due to illegal connections, meter bypassing and residents buying electricity from so-called ghost vendors in the area.

Community leaders said that they’d struck a deal with the utility, saying that they’d always been willing to pay for the service.

Diepkloof residents can look forward to a warm Christmas meal after power was restored to the area following weeks of darkness.

Ward councillor Brenda Dammie said that this was the result of the community banding together and committing to a payment arrangement with Eskom.

“The community agreed that they will pay R500 until January 2023,” Dammie said.

Dammie said that they had taken legal action against the utility over what they called the blanket punishment of all residents even though Eskom had identified the more than 700 households who owed it money.