Johannesburg- ANC president, Cyril Ramaphosa has called for Ekurhuleni residents to vote for ANC to have their electricity restored.
Ramaphosa has been avoiding the surge in questions when it comes to electricity, he finally broke out when angry residents shouted “no electricity no vote.”
“I have been told by your mayor [Mzwandile Masina] that you have had no electricity for over four months. He [Masina] has told me that the reason for your lack of electricity has been the fact that your transformer used to supply this community with electricity was apparently damaged and Eskom has indicated that it has no capacity to replace it at the moment,” said Ramaphosa.
He also stated that where he grew up, in Soweto Shiawelo there have been electricity issues due to the damage of transformers.
He said from what he had gathered from the power utility, there were 44 transformers that were not working in Soweto and Eskom was inundated with supplying transformers to affected areas.
He also discouraged residents from setting up illegal electricity connections as this was one of the main causes of transformers being damaged.
Ramaphosa indicated that due to maintenance work, Eskom was forced to shut down certain transformers and substations, leaving only a few in operation, placing pressure on the entire power ecosystem.
Ramaphosa also pleaded with the residents of Tsabella, in Ekurhuleni to not despair as the rest of the country was also currently experiencing stage four load shedding.
So, this thing of ‘no electricity, no vote’ needs to stop now. If you don’t vote for the ANC, then electricity may never be restored. Which other party do you trust to ensure that electricity is restored here?” asked Ramaphosa.
He went on to add that even developed countries like the US have power issues. “California had to electricity for months.
Ramaphosa also reminded residents that if they were genuinely struggling to pay for electricity, the government had rolled out an indigent subsidy for this very reason.
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