WATCH | Protestors shut down road as Eskom disconnects illegal connections in PMB
Eskom officials arrived in the area accompanied by a convoy of police officers and heavily armed private security personnel to carry out the disconnections.
Residents of Lion Park have shut down the MR477 road in protest as Eskom’s team arrived to conduct a massive disconnection drive in the community.
On Wednesday morning, Eskom officials arrived in the area accompanied by a convoy of police officers and heavily armed private security personnel to carry out the disconnections.
The operation was met with resistance from residents, resulting in a tense standoff between the community and Eskom officials.
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The road closure has disrupted traffic as residents stood in the way, and demanded engagement with authorities over the disconnections.
At the time of reporting at 10am on Wednesday, the situation remained tense, with police maintaining a heavy presence in the area.
The residents are claiming that their request for a legal connection to the Eskom grid has been ignored by the power utility over the years.
They admitted that following the numerous failures to be connected, they then resolved to buy transformers and illegally connected to the Eskom grid themselves.
Eskom’s senior manager and customer services in KZN Dadewabo Mbele said the power utility’s duty is to protect Eskom’s assets and paying customers.
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“Today we are here to disconnect illegally connected lines. Nothing is going to stop us from doing that,” said Mbele.
This is a developing story.
