Cape Town – South African power utility Eskom has reportedly withdrawn its services from Harare, Khayelitsha after alleged gang members in the location demanded a R20 000 monthly protection fee.
According to reports, Eskom withdrew its service “immediately” after the demand was allegedly made.
On Sunday, Eskom employees who were working to restore power in Jingi Street, were allegedly approached by armed men, reported IOL.
“Some gangsters are insisting that Eskom operators vacate or pay protection fee of R20 000 per month in order for Eskom to work in the area. This extortion fee was also demanded from our contractors working in Harare,” the report quoted a statement by Eskom.
The extortion was also targeted at residents, the report said.
“Furthermore, it has come to Eskom’s attention that there’s a syndicate illegally connecting people at an amount of R1 500 per household. These activities are severely straining the Eskom network, especially during peak times when transformers are overloaded,” said Eskom.
CapeTalk reported that the power utility was, however, working with Harare community leaders and the police to resolve the matter.
The power utility’s Cape Coastal Cluster Stakeholders and Industry Support Manager, Zama Mpondwana, said their engagement with community leaders proved to be fruitful.
The report said at least 100 households in Harare were without electricity.
“We need to make sure that they get their power back and it’s not fair because… we endeavour to make sure that paying customers always get their supply. We need that collaborative effort with the SAPS, with the local leadership if we work together, we can defeat this,” the report quoted Mpondwana as saying.
During an interview with Newsroom Afrika, Khayelitsha Development Forum chairperson, Ndithi Tyhido, said the intra-gang extortion loots were now moving from local businesses to targeting essential services such as Eskom, EMS and delivery services.
He said this showed that these gangs were expanding their territories and urgent collaboration by community leaders, community member, service providers and the police was needed.
He also encourage the police to establish the necessary confidence that people would be able to come forward and share information with them.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
