Ezibeleni will be ‘ungovernable’ if power is cut
While the Enoch Mgijima Municipality has embarked on a project to switch off non-paying electricity users, Ezibeleni residents say they will not allow any house to be cut off because of municipal failures.
On Monday, a lively crowd gathered in a meeting outside the Ezibeleni community hall in zone one to discuss the reported impending power cuts.
Speakers took to a mock podium to bemoan lack of services in the township and the lack of councillor visibility.
The residents threatened to make the township “ungovernable,” vowing to block roads if municipal vehicles entered.
The meeting was called by Komani Residents’ Association (Kora) members, who said the “drastic” power cut measurewas caused by the failure of the municipality and councillors.
“If the municipality had a problem with rates collection, councillors should have first consulted with their constituencies and explained the problem to them.
“They should have worked hand-in-hand with them to try and get solutions,” Kora member Zolile Xalisa said.
Xalisa said it was unfair for poor communities to be expected to pay rates for services that were not provided by the municipality.
“We have no roads, there is no water and we live in squalour.
“When they want to collect revenue they want the same poor communities to pay. They decided to use funds from other services to pay Eskom.
“It is an underhanded way to use indigent people who should have free electricity as a means to raise revenue,” Xalisa said.
Residents adopted a motion that they would not allow any house’s electricity to be cut off.
