Eric Naki, Gauteng
People of Soweto must just pay for electricity or any service rendered to them.
They need to understand that the anti-apartheid struggle we all fought is over and now it’s the time that we must all pay for the services we receive. It’s them who chose not to pay all the years for no reason.
The boycott strategy became invalid post 1994. Now they are threatening to mobilise a national boycott to involve us all to help them get free electricity or continue not paying.
Soweto is the most developed township in South Africa with all roads tarred, street lights everywhere, various shopping malls, hospitals, colleges, a university, they were the first to have a Bus Rapid System (aptly named Rea Vaya), continuous provision of housing/human settlements (they even have the luxury to boycott a new housing development built by the GP government for billions of rands at Dube claiming they were not consulted about it).
I doubt if Alex people could ever boycott free houses given to them because they have none.
There some occupy houses which do not belong to them, out of desperation.
Soweto’s apartheid debt was written off before by the democratic government.
But after that, they continued with non-payment. Who is to blame?
Yet very poor townships and villages elsewhere in SA had been paying using pre-paid system although facing poverty.
Those people want free electricity but not bothered by the fact that many poor people of Section C in Duncan Village in East London and Khayelitsha in Cape Town are paying.
Must we all boycott because of Soweto? I don’t think so.