/ 4 July 2013

Dear Mayor Tau…

Is it reasonable and justifiable to punish an entire community because of an unscrupulous – and probably desperate – component?
Is it reasonable and justifiable to punish an entire community because of an unscrupulous – and probably desperate – component?

A tin of fish costs R13, one cabbage costs R10, and the cheapest loaf of bread costs R5. These are basic items that members of my community need daily. But buying the cheapest items doesn't mean surplus income. Each month is a race to the final rand, an unpredictable journey where we hope that the unexpected cost of medicine, transport or funerals will not derail us from breaking even.

It was against such a background that, in 2011, I addressed an open letter to the executive mayor of Johannesburg and to City Power. In it, I asked how the people in my area were expected to form and lead legitimate and fulfilling lives if we were hindered in doing the most basic things such as studying and cooking.

I complained about the electricity cut-offs we were experiencing and implored that our rights be considered too – that we be treated as human, and that we would accept notices telling us our electricity would be cut off at specific times.

But this inequity continues today. To make a phone call to City Power can cost R60 or R70 – for you to wait on hold. This is an amount of money we simply can't afford. And, even if we could, I would almost guarantee that if you finally get through to the call centre the agent will probably take less than two minutes to tell you he or she knows nothing about the problem.

These agents seldom explain anything. They won't give you numbers of officials who can assist. The most they can do is to take down an address, meter number and cell number, and give you a reference number. That's it.

Two years after my initial letter, the situation continues – and I am writing again. Mr Mayor, I still live in Freedom Park, Devland, Johannesburg. I still do not have regular electricity. I still do not have information. I still feel we are being treated unfairly.

Power cuts
On June 18, 19 and 20 we had no electricity. We had no prior notice that, at the midpoint of winter, we would be left without warmth. Nor were we consulted during the period of darkness. We still have no explanation. That is just the most recent blackout, but almost every day in the lead-up to June 18 we experienced power cuts lasting three to five hours at a time. And no, there was no notice of these power outages.

My neighbourhood is home to canteen chefs who work at office parks for big businesses and for government parastatals. It is home to waiters and waitresses who work in restaurants, some of which are in upmarket areas.

It also houses public-hospital nurses and public-school teachers. Some of us are cashiers at the favourite shops of wealthy South Africa, or work as the daytime mothers of wealthy South Africa's children and the cleaners of wealthy South Africa's homes, malls and offices.

There are pupils in this area – at all levels of schooling: varsity students who study through bursaries, student loans or government initiatives. There are lawyers and traders and people with ambitions.

My neighbourhood is home to human beings with the same mental and physical make-up as the executive mayor of Johannesburg, his family and his friends. There is one difference, of course: we are poor. Constant power outages without explanation, notice or accountability are a persistent phenomenon in the lives of the poor.

And, yes, Mr Mayor, my neighbourhood is also home to uneducated, disempowered and very frustrated individuals. On the night of June 19, my neighbourhood was frantic: people took to the streets, blocking main roads with stones and burning tyres; bricks and stones were thrown at passing vehicles. It was a toxic, dangerous atmosphere. On June 20, residents of Dube hostel in Soweto also took to the streets in a similar protest – they too are said to be aggrieved by power outages.

Disruption and vandalism
I don't agree with this type of protest action, but nor do I believe the people protesting are mindless criminals interested only in public disruption and vandalism. Mr Mayor, what do you expect them to do?

We are told there are many avenues for people to express their anger. One would be calling City Power (we have already established how this is impractical for us), or visiting City Power.

A friend of mine paid City Power a visit on June 21, to be told there was nothing City Power could do for the people of Freedom Park. The reason? There are too many people who have connected electricity illegally and that this creates an overload on City Power's supply machinery! One would swear we own dishwashers, tumble dryers, underfloor heating, jacuzzis, mounted air conditioners, electric fences, wall heaters and electric blankets.

Be that as it may, is it reasonable and justifiable to punish an entire community because of an unscrupulous – and probably desperate – component? The electricity is metered, but are we to believe City Power can't detect illegal connections? Also, if people connect illegally and nothing is done to stop this, others follow suit: it becomes a practice, especially when one buys prepaid electricity and is still cut off.

I don't accept City Power's reasons as legitimate.

Once more, I beseech the mayor to put the necessary pressure on City Power to add a little integrity to the service it provides. If you want to load-shed, please let us know. At this point we are not even asking for reasons – we just want to be able to plan study routines, cooking times, the ironing of shirts we lend to each other before an important job interview.

I am not saying electricity is a cure for poverty. What I am saying is that the unannounced outages go a long way towards reminding our children of their inherent misfortune, to tell them about the failure of their parents to secure housing in affluent surroundings. More damningly still, the outages reminds them of their inability to conquer this misfortune. It leaves us feeling powerless and the children hopeless.

Mr Mayor, I struggle to explain to my 14-year-old niece that she can be whatever and whoever she wants to be in the world; that she must not see 11- and 12-year-olds from Bassonia, Meyerton and Parkview as being better than she is. I tell her that she can compete with them at anything, but she has had to write exams without having prepared fully, because there was an unpredictable, indefinite power outage – and we were not in a position to make alternative plans.

Honourable Mayor, tell me, how am I supposed to tell my niece that she is not a substandard human being when she witnesses government services withheld from her, simply because of where she lives?