Johannesburg - Ntombizile Namavundla Nkosi sits in her front yard, soaking up the last of the winter sun, wrapped in plastic to keep warm. She’s weaving reeds to make brooms.
She is 79 and has sight in only one eye. Her fingers are bent. The brooms she makes she sells for R20 each to feed her family. Her Sassa grant is just not enough. She complains of lower back pain. Not surprising as she has survived 26 Johannesburg winters without electricity. She gathers wood daily to make a fire so that she can cook for her family.
Namavundla Nkosi has lived in the house in Gawe Street in Jabulani, Soweto, for more than 40 years. She has not had electricity for 26 years and her health is deteriorating. She lives with her grandchildren but cannot remember how many there are.
Speaking in Zulu, she said: “A local councillor was meant to come and install the electricity fittings. I am still waiting.”
She is is one of thousands of Soweto residents who have not had electricity for years. Some have gone two years without electricity and some 26, like Namavundla Nkosi. She told Saturday Star that it would cost R6 000 to reconnect her electricity, an amount she simply cannot afford.
Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatase promised residents feedback on their electricity woes but that hasn’t happened yet.
Mayoral spokesperson Mabine Seabe said: “We have not responded, formally and in full, yet. We will do so in the coming weeks.”
That feedback is now expected at the end of July, according to Seabe.
While the mayor formulates her plan, a group of residents is hard at work trying to bring the grievances of the people to the fore and fighting to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Soweto residents. ZoJazem/Motlana, an organisation that represents Zola, Jabulani, Zondi, Mdeni, Mletsana, Tladi and Naledi, said their list of grievances was now with the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Their parliamentary representative, former Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo, is on the ground in Soweto and has escalated the struggles of residents to the NCOP.
ZoJazem/Motlana said 250 to 300 thousand people in their region alone were without electricity.
Parliamentary Constituency Office fieldworker Muzi Hlongwane, who’s been in activism for 28 years, said Namavundla Nkosi was still being billed by Eskom .
“They never give us the right answers. The billing address is for number 1810 and this gogo lives at 1811. There have been so many councillors who promised to help her but nothing’s been done,” he said.
Eskom did not reply to queries from Saturday Star about Namavundla Nkosi’s situation.
Hlongwane said they had had several engagements with Police Minister Bheki Cele about crime, taxi violence, substance abuse and hostel massacres.
“We have a situation in Jabulani where the indunas are being scared by nkabis (hitmen). They are killers for hire. The Jabulani SAPS are ineffective. The residents find no joy with them. There’s no zeal, no passion for communities,” he said.
Volunteer worker Donald Barelireng said Soweto residents experienced load shedding up to four times a day for two or three hours at a time.
“We have a case management book where we log complaints and we have a team trying to help the community with these cases. We deal with about 50 cases per month. Some are referred to the housing department. Some to Eskom but Eskom is just dragging its feet,” he said.
Barelireng has been in the field and on the ground for the past 28 years and said there had been some progress.
“I am a believer but I am also not an idealist. Some blocks now have electricity but others still don’t. It’s a work in progress,” he said.
Another volunteer with 38 years’ experience in the trenches, Justice Phetla, said he was encouraged by the many volunteers he had seen coming forward, trying to make a difference.
“We are the people who need to do something,” he said.
Hlongwane had high praise for Masondo, who he called a hard worker and a visionary.
“He served two terms. Thanks to comrade Masondo, we have tarred roads. Many developments happened here under his tenure. He is a man who believes in progression,” he said.
For now the residents of the south-western townships wait and the struggle of a life without electricity is their lives.