Eskom said on Monday it has restored power supply to some parts of Gauteng where communities have allowed its technicians safe access to conduct audits, remove illegal connections, disconnect non-paying customers and issue fines.
This is after the power utility cut electricity in some parts of the province, including Soweto, Ivory Park, Diepsloot extention 10 and Braamfischer, as the state-owned entity (SOE) puts in place stringent measures to recoup the billions of rand residents owe it.
Eskom had also decided not to restore electricity to areas affected by frequent blackouts due to illegal connections to the grid and meter tampering.
But on Monday, Eskom said ward councillors and community leaders collaborated in working with the affected communities to resume with the operations without incidents, and power was restored in some of these areas, after successful audit processes were carried out.
"We are of the view that we can build more successes in other areas emulating from these pockets of excellence," said Motlhabane Ramashi, a senior manager for operations and maintenance in the Gauteng operating unit.
"Furthermore, customers are now metered, they buy tokens from Eskom’s authorised outlets, and we have seen some improvements in the buying patterns and the tamper fine payments are also on an increase and this is encouraging."
Eskom said it would continue to constantly monitor the infrastructure and electricity payment trends in an effort to promote a culture of paying for electricity services.
On the other hand, the power utility said it would continue to restore supply in areas where the community granted it access to take steps to alleviate network overloading.
"In conclusion, we are engaging with communities in areas with overloading network as a result of illegal connections and bypassed meters. This is a proactive measure to conduct audits in order to avoid more equipment failure," Eskom said.