News Update – Khotsong gets Electrified
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Click here to download the PDF for News Update 6 March 2013
A 54 years old mother of three, Moipone Lebusho, had been using paraffin and candles as sources of energy and light for most of her life. Her daily life comprised of setting the steel iron on an outside of fire to iron her child’s clothes, while a three-legged pot on an outside fire were used to cook the day’s meal. All this changed on Friday, 01 March 2013, when Lebusho and hundreds of residents from Khotsong Township in Phase 2 had their households officially electrified in a joint operation by the Department of Energy, Centlec and Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality.
The symbolic electricity switch ceremony at two houses was done by the energy Deputy-Minister Me Barbara Thompson, MMM Executive Mayor Clr Thabo Manyoni and the Ward 12 Councillor, Clr Masabata Matsemelela. “Electricity really is life. Without it we struggle to do daily things that many take for granted. It is also a unique and special service in that it is used specifically by individuals unlike roads which are used by the entire community,” the Deputy-Minister said.
According to some residents in the informal settlement, they sometimes spent over R600 on alternative energy like gas and paraffin and this would not always last a month. Besides the money spent, the residents were also concerned with their safety as these elements are known to cause major accidents. The EM thanked the residents for being patient, adding that this was the first of other projects which will benefit the people of Mangaung. “Citizens of Khotsong must feel proud that their government has come back to them to install electricity even though the installation is in the shacks. I know for a fact there are other services that are under way and it is the same hope that will sustain you as we work towards bringing them to you, like proper housing,” the EM said. “Municipalities are not operating separately from national and provincial government. They form part of broader governance hence you see the deputy-minister today,” he added. The EM also commended the ward councillor for her persistence in ensuring that the ward gets electricity.