Scores of protesters barricaded the R102 with burning tyres and tree branches in protest over electricity and water outages in Frasers, Tongaat, on Monday, 11 September.
The disgruntled residents blockaded all exit and entry points in Frasers, demanding better service delivery from the eThekwini Municipality and Eskom. A source told the Tongaat and Verulam Tabloid that residents were angry after the power utility, Eskom disconnected their homes and accused them of defrauding its prepaid metered system.
“The residents have not been paying for electricity for the past six years. Eskom was compelled to disconnect the houses that were stealing electricity from the power grid. In the interim, Eskom wants R6000 from Frasers’ residents before they restore power to their homes,” the source said.
Residents allegedly bypassed Eskom meters and damaged infrastructure, in a bid to steal electricity. Following their disconnection to the grid, they appealed to the power utility not to use a blanket approach, “but rather identify those who tampered with the meters and are not paying for electricity”.
The ward councillor for the area, Thobekani Nene said illegal connections and bypassed meters were the main reasons for Eskom disconnecting the electricity supply in Frasers.
“Some of the houses in Frasers were electrified between 2013 and 2014, while some of the houses remain on the waiting list to be connected. It seems like they got impatient while waiting for Eskom to connect the power to their homes, and some of the residents started stealing electricity by connecting illegally. Almost the entire village resorted to illegal connections including the people who had prepaid meter boxes. The grid was overloaded resulting in power transformers exploding,” said Cllr Nene.
He said in order for Eskom to repair the damaged transformer, each house has to pay R6000. “They have taken a decision to halve the amount from R6000 to R3000 up front, meaning residents will pay R3000 deposit to Eskom and the remainder will be deducted from their monthly prepaid tokens. However, the eThekwini Municipality has plans in place to electrify all those areas waiting for electricity supply.
“Another issue that was on their list was the issue of water outages. We have also discovered that residents have not been paying for their water accounts. The municipality has been sending water tankers to Frasers. In addition to this, there is a standpipe transporting water from Burbreeze Reservoir to Frasers,” Nene said.
Following the protest that caused havoc on the R102, Tongaat police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Manisha Maharaj-Marie said no arrests were made. She said: “The Public Order Policing was dispatched to the scene after residents burnt tyres on the road. On arrival, the protesters dispersed peacefully and there were no arrests made.”
