EFF condemns the inhumane electricity cuts by City of Johannesburg and City Power in the midst of Covid-19

17 June 2020

The Economic Freedom Fighters condemns the inhumane and cruel electricity cuts done by City Power in Johannesburg's informal settlements in the midst of a health pandemic and a bitterly cold winter. The ANC government's attempt to present itself as heroic for stripping electricity from those they have failed to provide adequate housing and electricity to must be rejected. It is narrow hate for the poor and disregard for human life and dignity.

The sinister removal of electricity from informal settlements is but another way to punish the poor, who have bravely decided to occupy land by force in response to the failure by government to redistribute land for residential purposes. The stripping of electricity from the residents of Rabie Ridge in Midrand and Lenasia of electricity is tantamount to forced land removals, as these residents who already live in high-density areas will now face bitterly cold conditions and be under the surveillance of unidentifiable security.

We reject the logic that suggests that the denial of electricity to these residents is to the benefit of the rest of the City. We cannot live in a society where sustainable electricity provision is dependent on the denial of the provision of electricity to the poor. It is the City that has failed to provide housing, it is the government that has failed to redistribute land, and it is the government that has failed to provide safe and adequate infrastructure to these poor communities.

There is nothing brave about cutting electricity from the poor. The EFF rejects this thuggery as inhumane and as undermining of the right to life and dignity.

Issued by Vuyani Pambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 17 June 2020