This is how a group of Jonkersberg Forestry Village residents described their plight last week during a visit by the George Herald.
The 22 families who live in the village, also known as Phillipsville, feel they have become a forgotten and marginalised community living in the dark. Their pleas for help to the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) who owns the forestry village, and the homes in it, have fallen on deaf ears.
"We've been going around in circles. We almost thought there was a breakthrough when Susan Steyn, forestry management at Western Cape Daff, said Daff would take over the supply point. Eskom then indicated that the network would have to be upgraded, which would take up to five months." Eskom, via David Calitz (customer executive group customer services), advised that MTO Forestry would be best placed to have the network activated as an interim measure.
Via their Community Manager Jean Joubert, MTO Forestry said Daff owes them R5-million in outstanding services fees. "We could not longer continue footing the bill for the electricity supplied by Eskom, as most of the villagers are not even employed by MTO."
Last week Joubert said MTO would be willing to act as an interim power supplier, but this would be subject to several conditions including that Daff settles the outstanding bill, that Daff acknowledges ownership of Phillipsville and the services that go with it and that a formal agreement be entered into. "To date Daff has not approached us to be the interim service provider," said Joubert. Annie Ayford, a community worker, said she and others have been living in Phillipsville all their lives and were hoping to continue to do so.
"We are willing to pay for electricity and have been paying for services. We have a bucket removal service and refuse removal system, a clinic and a library and the children are transported to school. We love it here and we will continue to hope for a solution to the problem of being without heating, cooking and fridges."
Various officials at Daff were asked for comment, but no response was received at the time of going print.
Residents from Phillipsville say they have taken a step backwards when their electricity was cut off two months ago. It is 35km to George for a shopping trip and, as they have no working fridges, there are quite a lot of hardships to contend with. Annie Ayford (extreme left) says most of the residents have been there for generations and would like to stay. Photo: Pauline Lourens
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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