RESIDENTS of Thohoyandou in the former Venda homeland are preparing for a black Christmas and new millennium, with no Christmas lights, no street lights and no traffic lights. Eskom has cut off electricity to the town because of a dispute with the town council over the payment of a R1,8-million bill. The last time street and traffic lights in the town were blacked out, in August, thugs went on the rampage as soon as the sun went down, using the cover of the darkness to pounce on their victims. A number of students at the University of Venda were molested, and car accidents rose by the day as the traffic lights at major intersections were replaced with four-way stopstreets. Eskom spokesman Bonang Moletsane said this week it had decided to disconnect the electricity because the council had failed to comply with conditions set by Eskom in August.