Orange Farm residents tell Ramaphosa of their frustration over electricity failures

President Cyril Ramaphosa was met with anger and frustration over electricity failures and unfinished housing projects as he took the ANC's election campaign trail to Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, on Monday.

Residents staged a picket at the Chris Hani Sports Complex where the party organised a community meeting, with some of those who attended holding placards which said “No electricity, not vote", “Out ANC, if there is no electricity".

Ramaphosa told residents that the electricity crisis was a national problem which some in the community worsened by illegally connecting to the grid and causing transformers to be damaged as they were overwhelmed.

“People are angry all over about the electricity problem. But people connect illegally and add to the problem. And we know about this. There are people who don’t want to pay for electricity,” Ramaphosa said.

Some of the residents, however, lamented that they were subjected to electricity cuts even though they were paying.

Ramaphosa questioned the residents on why they threatened to dump the party at the polls on November 1 if the electricity crisis was not addressed, adding that the ANC was the only party best placed to deal with their problems.

“You are saying 'no electricity, no vote'. This is making me laugh because the people who are supposed to fix the electricity problem are the ones you are saying you will not vote for. Who will fix it? Did you think about that?” Ramaphosa asked.

He said Eskom was strained as it was dealing with its R400bn debt and many power stations whose infrastructure was aged.

Johannesburg mayor Mpho Moerane had recently announced that the city was finalising a deal with Eskom where City Power would take over the responsibility of distributing electricity to residents across the metro and deal with some of the load reduction that was imposed by the power utility in some areas.

Orange Farm has been among the communities where the EFF, DA and ActionSA have been galvanising support for the upcoming elections, and their posters are spread throughout the township's wards.

Ramaphosa said the ANC wanted to secure a clear majority in Johannesburg and that this needed improved voter turnout in its traditional stronghold to avoid the losses it suffered in 2016 when it was dislodged by a DA-led coalition.

Ramaphosa was also scheduled to take the party’s campaign trail to Soweto and Alexandra.