By Buziwe Nocuze
- Residents in Khayelitsha’s Newdawn settlement blocked roads and burned tyres after Eskom removed illegal power connections in their area.
- Formal housing residents say their electricity was affected by illegal connections and are glad Eskom finally took action.
Residents of the Newdawn informal settlement in Kuyasa, Khayelitsha, blocked the road, burned tyres and set rubbish alight after Eskom cut off illegal electricity connections.
They were angry and accused their councillor of working with Eskom.
Resident Nosisa Bovana said Eskom arrived earlier that day and began removing the illegal connections.
“We cannot just sit back and watch our cables being taken away by Eskom. We have a right to have electricity, and we are not the only informal settlement that is connecting to electricity illegally,” said Bovana.
The residents have been living there since 2020.
“We were shocked to hear that our councillor knew they were going to disconnect electricity, and he didn’t deny it. He explained that those who are staying in formal houses complained to Eskom about being without electricity for months,” said Bovana.
She said they would not stop protesting until they got their cables back.
“We pay a lot of money for those cables, and most of us are not working. What Eskom did is not fair,” she said.
A woman who lives in a formal house nearby said she had suffered because of the illegal connections.
“We have been without electricity for months. We lost our electrical appliances because of them. I am happy that Eskom has disconnected electricity in their area,” she said.
While formal houses had no power, informal homes had working electricity.
“It is not fair that we, paying customers, don’t have electricity, and people who are not paying have access to it. Eskom needs to be consistent, every time they connect illegally again, they must come and disconnect,” said another resident.
Ward councillor Lonwabo Mqina addressed the angry group. He said he did not call Eskom but knew about the planned operation.
“After the formal complaint, Eskom said they cannot fix the electricity while there are illegal connections in the area. Yes, I knew they were going to do the operation of disconnecting tomorrow. Informal residents got it all wrong by thinking that I am the one who ordered Eskom to do that,” said Mqina.
He said the only real solution was for the informal residents to get electricity the legal way.
Pictured above: Newdawn informal settlement residents in Khayelitsha township, Cape Town, burnt tyres and blocked the road after Eskom disconnected illegal connections in their area.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
