Emfuleni residents’ electricity crisis is far from over because the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Emfuleni has not yet received any feedback from the petition handed over to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) seven months ago.
The petition seeks to address Eskom’s failure to replace broken and faulty transformers in areas where they supply electricity in Emfuleni. Some of these areas have been without electricity for more than five years.
Furthermore, the DA has been reliably informed that Eskom is forcing the affected residents to pay R500 per household to fix broken and faulty transformers.
The DA believes that it is unacceptable for Eskom to force residents to pay for its infrastructure.
Since handing over the petition to the NCOP, the DA has not received any acknowledgement letter or any feedback on the progress made on this petition.
Emfuleni residents and businesses are suffering because of this prolonged electricity crisis, yet there are no urgent interventions from the government and NCOP to resolve this matter.
The DA will be engaging with its representatives in the NCOP to ensure that this petition is dealt with as a matter of urgency. Furthermore, the petition challenges Eskom and NCOP representatives to conduct an oversight inspection in Emfuleni to engage with residents and understand how this electricity crisis affects their daily lives.