A man holds South African rand notes on a counter. | Karen Sandison/ Independent Newspapers
After the recent windstorms in Gauteng, many homes were left without electricity, even in my suburb of Parkmore, Sandton. However, my casual domestic helper who lives in Doornkop, Soweto, had a strange tale to tell, and not so for the first time.
According to her, Eskom has demanded a payment of R6 000 from each resident in the neighbourhood before it restores power. How is a casual domestic worker, who has been managing her prepaid electricity, expected to cough up such an astronomical sum of money? To me this sounds like skullduggery.
And we have heard of corrupt practices involving the tampering of meters. One media outlet recently stated that only 20% of the residents of Soweto pay their electricity bills. If Eskom’s strategy is to extort money from poor residents to punish the community of Soweto collectively, it is callous of them to do so. Those who drive Ferraris (and there are Ferraris in Soweto!) should pay up. Why punish the vulnerable, such as my domestic helper who already has a prepaid meter?
I call upon opposition political parties to intervene in this crisis as a matter of urgency. This is the time when our Grade 12 pupils are preparing for the most important examination of their lives, matric, and they need all the help they can get.
HARRY SEWLALL
Parkmore
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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