SOWETO - Angry Soweto residents are protesting in Diepkloof because their electricity supply has been cut off.
They claim they have been left without electricity for several days, and lay the blame squarely at City Power's door.
Police have fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesting crowd.
Angry Soweto community members are demanding action from their ward councillor.
They say they've been without electricity since Monday.
Residents say there has not been any explanation for why the power is off, or when it will come back on.
A community member said they have had to throw food away because food in the fridge is spoiled.
"We were not informed about this power outage. That is why people have decided to take to the streets to protest. We are protesting because we are residents of this area.
We have been residing in this neighbourhood for a long time.
"They keep telling us we need to pay rates, but we can't afford to pay.
We are calling for a solution; we don't want to continue like this because we want to be heard. We haven't had electricity since Monday.
"Our children are bathing with cold water, catching flu due to this outage. Our food is spoiled, and our fridges are smelling."
Ward councillor Sthembiso Mashinini said a payment dispute between Eskom and City Power is the reason Diepkloof Hostel residents are in the dark.
The hostel has been without power since Monday, resulting in residents protesting.
Mashinini said the City has committed to settling the one-point-five-million-rand bill on Tuesday.
"The City owes, apparently, the City owes R1.5 million. This hostel owes 1.5 million to Eskom. So as a result, when Eskom was fixing for the residents from outside, it did not turn this one on just because it wanted their money back. So the MMC wrote a commitment letter that they were going to pay on Tuesday, so that's what the MMC says
"But Eskom was not responding the way it was supposed to be responding, so the situation has gotten here. Because yesterday there was a meeting here, but there were people who were misleading people from outside, saying that I'm the one who turned off the electricity, not knowing where do I have all that power to switch off this electricity. They wrote that they will pay on Tuesday, because I think Monday is a holiday, so on Tuesday, things will be paid off," Mashinini said.