Pretoria - Eskom Acting CEO, Brian Molefe has apologised to the residents of Soweto for the inconvenience caused by the prolonged power outage last Friday.
The power outage was caused by a combination of two unrelated factors, namely load shedding and some of utility’s power distribution networks battling to cope with the huge electricity demand.
“On behalf of Eskom, I would like to personally apologise for the inconvenience that most customers have had to endure due to load shedding and other technical failures.
“We value our customers and commit to improve our turnaround times so that we can better serve all our five-million customers around the country,” said Molefe.
Eskom also welcomed the peaceful manner in which the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) and members of the ANC Joburg Region articulated their concerns about the recent prolonged power outages in Soweto.
Molefe said the demands clearly indicate that SANCO and its alliance partners are willing to work with Eskom to find a lasting solution to the electricity issues that face the country.
“We welcome the fact that SANCO and its alliance partners would like us to roll out education and awareness campaigns about the benefits of prepaid meters, and that they would like us to provide prepaid meters to tenants who live in rented backrooms so that each tenant can pay according to their consumption,” Molefe said.
Eskom said the current infrastructure upgrade in Soweto is aimed at stopping the debt of R4 billion from increasing any further, reducing illegal connections and electricity theft, assisting customers manage their electricity cost and assisting in efficient utilisation of electricity. – SAnews.gov.za
