By Everson Luhanga
- Angry River Park locals surrounded the Kew Depot on Wednesday, blocking workers from leaving until City Power promised not to cut off power.
- Residents say City Power hiked charges from R500 to R2,000 per household and are refusing to pay until the original deal is honoured.
City Power workers were trapped for hours inside the Kew Depot in Alexandra on Wednesday as furious residents launched a protest.
The group of River Park residents blocked the entrance and refused to let staff in or out.
Their main demand: City Power must stop disconnecting homes that are not paying for electricity.
Resident Matshiditso Pitso said they were promised a flat rate of R500 per home, but were now being charged R2,000.
“We don’t mind paying, but they changed the deal,” he said.
Community leader Black Jesus Shivambu said people are struggling in the cold and City Power should focus on fixing outages, not cutting people off.
“When power trips in other areas, City Power responds fast. But in River Park, we wait forever,” he said.
City Power general manager Isaac Mangena said the entity was acting against illegal connections and tampered meters. On Tuesday, it started a disconnection drive targeting more than 800 homes.
But when teams arrived in River Park, they were met with violence and had to stop.
Mangena said the protest endangered staff and disrupted services across the area it services.
CEO Tshifularo Mashava warned they might cut electricity to the entire area if the protests continue.
“City Power’s contract is with individual customers, not with groups. Each person must sort out their issues one-on-one with us,” she said.
Mashava said the protestors include the same people who stopped the installation of smart meters earlier this year.
“Our teams were attacked. We only managed to disconnect a few houses before being chased away,” she said.
She added that more than 1,700 smart meters were installed in the area recently, but many residents refuse to pay or have been bypassing the system.
“We will not allow intimidation to stop us from doing our work. Illegal connections are dangerous and we will remove them,” said Mashava.
She urged local councillors to speak to the protestors and allow City Power to continue restoring power in other parts of the city.
Pictured above: River Park residents at the Alexandra’s Kew depot
Image source: Everson Luhanga
