Ongoing electricity woes intensify in Zenzele

Zenzele

The community of Zenzele Village in Dennilton, Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality (EMLM) Ward 7, said they are fed up with lack electricity concerns that dates back 27 years ago.

The village has been without any government services since its establishment because it is on a communal land owned by a group of families.

However, the villagers blame EMLM authorities for delaying land purchasing processes with the property owners.

According to residents, three years back, an electricity project commenced at the village and was suspended by land owners who were claiming that EMLM did not make proper consultation with them before starting the project.

A community leader, Simon Thipe, said having to live without electricity for 27 years is a violation of their rights as South African citizens.

“We honestly can’t live like this. This is the worst feeling; it is inhumane to live without electricity in these modern days. It is stressful to live in the dark for so many years,” said Thipe.

Despite engaging in numerous violent protests to vent their frustrations, Thipe indicated that they have first approached EMLM on several occasions to try and have their electricity problem resolved but they were neglected.

According to Thipe, when they were getting hold of the local municipality, they were told the matter is been attended to and will be resolved soon.

“But still years have passed without any positive outcome from the municipality. This is not how people should be living,” he said.

Thipe informed that after being neglected by EMLM, community leaders escalated the concerns to office of the executive mayor in Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM) and they promised to have constant communication with them to address the electricity problem.

“We are trying by all means to have the matter addressed and we believe that engaging the office of the executive mayor will bear positive outcomes in the near future,” he said.

According to Thipe, some of community members suggested that the only way to get attention of the government so that their plight could be addressed was to boycott the elections.

“The community is angry because government officials visit the village only during the voting trail campaigns but fail to address their basic service delivery needs. However, as community leaders, we did not condone the elections boycotting plans because we felt like they will be violating rights of other residents who were willing to exercise their voting rights,” he said.

Simon Makua, EMLM Spokesperson, said the local municipality, together with the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), are currently engaging with land owners regarding the matter. Makua said Zenzele residents are aware of the engagement between the municipality, Coghsta and property owners.