Download PDFEskom finally decided to visit the residents of Bophelong concerning the issue of electricity. It has been nine months since the residents of Bophelong last had electricity. On 1 December 2022, Eskom visited the residents because some people from Bophelong bridged the electricity which resulted in transformers blasting and the residents losing their electricity.
The residents previously tried to reach out to Eskom regarding this issue, but they failed. The ward counsellor also tried his best a month after losing electricity, but he went unheard. The residents went to Eskom again for the third time and Eskom told the residents that every household should contribute R500, which will be used to buy transformers and the needed cables for it.
The residents disagreed with this at first and said that no money will be given to Eskom for the transformers and required cables. As time went by, one of the residents managed to bring the people of Bophelong together and convinced them that it has been a long time since they had electricity and that they were spending more money on fast food as fridges were off. Most of them were getting used to this life and relying on gas and paraffin stoves for cooking and other things, while others thought it was best to rather buy generators.
Finally, the residents agreed to take out the R500 for each household and give it to Eskom to buy the transformer and required cables. Eskom finally did their job and put in a new transformer for them. They also installed new electrical boxes that are more modernised and finally there was light in Bophelong. The residents in Bophelong spent their December merrily with electricity.
The articles on this page were written by learners based at the schools and Orphan and Vulnerable Children Centres that Khanya College works with in Gauteng, through the Jozi Book Fair Project. FAJ Kids is a programme the Karibu! & FAJ Project runs in conjunction with the JBF Project, to train school learners to write news stories about their community and the issues affecting them.
