With the implementation of prepaid electricity in Orlando and Diepkloof, lives of residents have been exceedingly becoming tougher and unbearable. Residents are now forced to choose between buying food or electricity and what’s worse is that the main electricity supplier in the country Eskom has been constantly increasing the price of electricity without consultation.
Soweto residents haven’t taken this blow from Eskom lying down, communities are furious with the ridiculous stunts pulled by Eskom. Communities around Soweto have shown their dissatisfaction with Eskom through a number of community meetings.
In Orlando East there have been several community meetings where residents urged Eskom to scrap the prepaid meter system and implement a flat rate payment policy.
At the ward meeting held at the Soweto YMCA hall, in February, Ward Councillors gave a report back to the residents following a number of engagements with Eskom representatives in Orlando & Diepkloof. This follows a warning that was issued by Eskom earlier this year that they were going to disconnect electricity in Orlando & Diepkloof due to non-payment and illegal connections.
Issues raised by the community of Orlando about the prepaid system
- Inconsistency in the amount of electricity one gets when they buy vouchers.
- They spend a lot of money on electricity every month.
- Difficulties in buying and installing electricity vouchers on the Eskom meter gadgets.
- Eskom expects residents to buy electricity yet they fail to maintain and upgrade their failing infrastructure.
- Why Orlando residents are charged on Tariff 1 which is really expensive while other communities are charged on Tariff 4 which is much less.
Ward Councillors urged residents to pay whatever little money they can afford because in the event that their transformers or main boxes burn and you need help from Eskom, they are first going to check whether you are buying electricity or not before they assist you.
The follow up meeting on the 2nd March 2023, held at the Orlando East Communal Hall with the representative from Eskom, the community expressed their dissatisfaction with the Prepaid system, they say Eskom is taking people for granted. Some residents were calling for flat rate, and accountability from the energy supplier.
“Electricity is expensive, when you buy a R100 voucher it doesn’t even take more than a day, said one resident.” “We are spending more than R2000 a month just on electricity. It’s confusing that some people are still using the old systems of postpaid while some residents are using prepaid.”
Residents who are facing challenges when buying electricity because they have been blocked on the system, are urged to come forward with their Electricity Meter numbers to their respective Councillors and ask for help because, in the event that they experience power outages at a later stage, it would be impossible for the Councillor to assist you.