Trevor Ngwane is a well-known campaigner against the ANC government’s privatisation and commercialisation of basic services, like power and water. Ngwane lives in Pimville and thanks to an electricity connection provided by grassroots campaigners, he has enjoyed decommodified electricity for the last five years. In Ngwane’s words “when they cut us off we just reconnect ourselves”. Through the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, Trevor has assisted countless poverty-stricken Sowetans reconnect their electricity after officials from the corporatised state electricity provider Eskom disconnect them from the grid for non-payment. Ngwane and the SECC, through a coalition of township grassroots organisations, are contesting several local government seats in Soweto. Their main opponents are members of the ruling African National Congress. On February 6, Eskom officials, accompanied by police, began digging up the earth in front of Ngwane’s house, searching for the offending power cable. The local community intervened and the Eskom brigade was forced to flee, returning with reinforcements. On their third attempt, armed police fired rubber bullets at the small crowd of protesters who had gathered to prevent the disconnection, injuring three people and hospitalising one. Ngwane’s electricity was cut. [Adapted from South Africa Indymedia. See the video clip of the events at <http://sa.indymedia.org/im/TrevorsEskomCutoffWMP.wmv>.]

From Green Left Weekly, February 15, 2006.
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