Eskom denies plans to switch off electricity to parts of Soweto
Updated | By Martine van der Walt Ehlers
Eskom has denied the existence of a list of areas in Soweto which could soon find themselves without power.
The power utility was made aware of the list following violent protest in the area after several residents's power was switched off due to non-payment of accounts.
Eskom in Gauteng has now urged those spreading the rumours to stop misleading Soweto residents.
"Eskom does conduct system and network audits to look after its infrastructure to prevent widespread damage, prolonged outages and to protect the lives of innocent people in all its areas of supply across Gauteng, and this is a standard Eskom process," provincial spokesperson for Eskom in Gauteng, Amanda Qithi explains.
"In this year alone Eskom in Gauteng has lost revenue in excess of billions and in its attempt to protect its infrastructure, it has implemented some strategies such as the conversion of customers from post-paid to prepaid meters, intensified audits and continues to educate its customers on the importance of paying for electricity and encouraging them to apply and use the free basic electricity made available to low-income households.
"The high increase and magnitude acts of criminality such as stealing of electricity, theft and vandalism of equipment, unpaid bills and buying electricity from ghost vendors necessitates Eskom to respond by disconnecting those found to have contravened and issuing them with reconnection fines.
"There are a number of customers that have been issued with fines and have paid their fines, and subsequently the electricity has been reconnected in those communities.
Eskom is appealing to its customers who have been issued with fines to pay up so that their electricity can also be reconnected.
"This is important for Eskom to run its operations efficiently and curb financial losses as a result of illegal activities, as this is costly and unsustainable," said Qithi.
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