[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Ngwane disconnected

[Patrick Bond]

southafrica.indymedia.org

Eskom and the men with Guns
SOWETO, 6 FEBRUARY 2006 - Just days after Johannesburg mayor and ANC 
candidate - Amos Masondo - arrived in Pimville, Soweto, to ask residents for 
their votes, ESKOM, the state's corporatised electricity provider, returned 
to show the community exactly what they would be voting for. This time it 
was Trevor Ngwane's turn.

Trevor, a well know campaign against ANC neoliberal policies, lives in 
Pimville where, thanks to an illegal connection, he has enjoyed 
decommodified electricity for the last five years. In Trevor's words "when 
they cut us off we just reconnect ourselves". Through the Soweto Electricity 
Crisis Committee, Trevor has assisted countless poverty stricken Sowetans 
reconnect their electricity after ESKOM officials disconnected them from the 
grid for non-payment. The campaign is called Khanyisa, literally meaning "to 
light up". But the stakes have suddenly become much bigger as Trevor and the 
SECC take this message of decommodified basic services into the upcoming 
local government elections. Through a coalition of township civics, the SECC 
will be contesting several local government seats in Soweto.

Today, with less than a month to go before the election, ESKOM officials, 
accompanied by SAPS visited Trevor. Prepped to cut his electricity, they 
began digging up the earth in front of his house, searching for the 
offending cable. The community would however have their say as well, and 
twice the ESKOM brigades were forced to flee and return with reinforcements. 
On their third attempt they returned with three hippos loaded with the 
gunmen of the SAPS. It didn't take long before the shooting started.

Without any real warning police opened fire with rubber bullets on the small 
crowd of protesters who had gathered to prevent the disconnection. After the 
smoke cleared three people were injured and one person needed to be 
hospitalised. And Trevor's electricity was finally cut. see the clip (note 
this is wmv file and is 20.4 megs) 

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