City Power said it is worried about the safety of its technicians, after a protest by members of South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) yesterday.
Isaac Mangena, Spokesperson of City Power, said a memorandum given to staff at its Alexandra office, was threatening.
It called for Zone13 residents in Alexandra township, to pay a flat rate charge for electricity.
SANCO also demanded the local power utility, stops the installation of smart meters in Alexandra.
Mangena said “what had us deeply worried is that the leaders of the march went further to threaten City Power employees and contractors, ordering their followers to attack our workers every time they see them working in their areas.
These threats are concerning especially given the history of violence in the area. The intimidation cannot be taken lightly because it comes at a time when our teams have been repeatedly subjected to attacks and insults, which affects service delivery in the city.”
As a result, City Power said despite some outages and maintenance work required in areas of the jurisdiction mentioned in the SANCO memo, it is considering removing its employees until the 14 days provided by SANCO lapses.
“The safety of our employees and that of our contractors is very important, and we will not compromise it. We take these threats very seriously and have informed law enforcement agencies to be vigilant and to act against anyone who threatens service delivery in Alexandra.”
The letter sent to Earthnews365 by Thomas Thage, SANCO Chairperson in Johannesburg, makes proposals and requests and not demands and threats.
It has requested engagement from City Power pertaining to communication, the improvement in the reliability of power, and a review of the current flat rate payment structure.
The memo further proposes regular community meetings to discuss power outages, the establishment of a notification system for power outages.
The memo also requests the installation of meter boxes be placed on hold, until a community imbizo with City Power.
Thage said City Power’s decision to withdraw technicians from Alex until after 14 days is a bullying tactic. He said residents would suffer the consequences of this action.
“We want to understand and be educated about smart meters, and the future. How will they impact us and how will we live with them. There should be nothing for us, without us.”
He said there is no recorded threat or official communique that threatens City Power. In addition, City Power is always accompanied by law enforcement agencies when in Alex.