Eskom has suspended its services in Khayelitsha, Delft, Belhar, Dunoon, Philippi and Fisantekraal after its vehicle was allegedly petrol-bombed in an incident the company has linked to the ongoing taxi strike.
“An Eskom vehicle was petrol-bombed in the early hours of Friday in Khayelitsha. The Eskom employee was off duty at the time of the incident. Eskom security is investigating the incident. Unfortunately, various incidents are being reported across the Cape Peninsula that delays Eskom from responding rapidly to faults,” Eskom said in a statement urging customers to remain patient and follow the channels made available to log a fault.
“Services are suspended in the following affected areas: Khayelitsha, Delft, Belhar, Dunoon, Philippi and Fisantekraal. Eskom will exercise extreme caution when delivering services to other Eskom supply areas. Customers are encouraged to use the Alfred Chatbot on the Eskom website to log faults or to download the MyEskom Customer App, which is available on the iStore and Google Play Store.”
Meanwhile, Parliament’s select committee on education and technology, sports, arts and culture has called on the Western Cape Department of Education to devise a catch-up plan for learners who will miss school days due to the ongoing taxi strike.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced on Thursday that it was withdrawing from negotiations with the City and would only return on August 10. This follows violent clashes between minibus taxi drivers and the City’s law enforcement officers after a number of vehicles were impounded on Monday.
“Many of our learners attend school in areas outside where they reside and this necessitates a form of transport. In the Cape Town metro, minibus taxis have usurped this function. If they pull out as abruptly as they have done, it means so many learners will be affected.
“In fact, so many learners had been seen along major routes walking home on the first day of the strike. This is a concerning development and should not continue unmitigated,” said committee chairperson Elleck Nchabeleng.
He said schools should adopt a flexible approach while the industry and the City tried to find each other.
“If no resolution is found sooner, something needs to be done for learners who will miss class time. If the taxi industry goes on strike, it only follows that thousands of learners will be affected.”
Cape Times