It took three cable thefts at the local Eskom substation and multiple days without electricity for Baba Biblos Lebona to decide that enough was enough. Taking the livelihoods of thousands of households into his own hands, he decided to protect the substation himself, 24 hours, seven days a week, with a little help from his friends.

This was back in September 2022. Eskom had told them that it did not have the money to keep on fixing the cables and so any subsequent blackouts from cable thefts could go on for weeks, if not months.

Lebona created a WhatsApp group and invited others to join him in camping out next to the substation, taking it in shifts to guard the facility in small groups. Unarmed, they rely on their presence and their relationships with councillors and the local community to protect them.

Ten months later there are now 35 members of the Boitshepiville Commanders Task Team. Their name is a combination of the three townships that are served by the substation: Sharpeville, Tshepiso and Boipatong. The team is a mix of men and women from the different communities, all passionate about keeping the lights and heating on when there aren’t rolling blackouts. It is completely voluntary work they are doing to protect their families and their community.

A converted kraal makes for temporary shelter so that they have a base looking onto the area they are protecting, and they greet one another with their slogan, “Commanders Morning”, no matter what time of day it is.

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To help pay for their transport, food and data they go door to door in the three communities asking for R20 donations and explaining what they are doing. Some people have helped, others have slammed the door in their faces.

Even the local businesses, including a Shoprite supermarket, are not willing to help, even though they benefit from the protection that is being provided by Lebona and his commanders.

Still, they keep working, motivated by the belief that if they don’t do it, nobody else will.

The Boitshepiville Commanders Task Team will celebrate its first anniversary in September and the members hope that they might be able to attract donors willing to help them with transport, food and a container to replace the temporary shelter they have built.

Lebona was nominated as an Actionist by Tebogo Rapakgadi. DM

The Actionists was launched in early 2023 by photographer Thom Pierce. It consists of on-the-ground problem solvers, community activists, climate campaigners and human rights defenders who don’t just talk but who take direct action. They’re the people you can go to when you don’t know where to turn; who won’t stop working for the change they want to see in the world. The Actionists is also a growing community of people who care about the future of South Africa.

Through a series of photographic stories, Pierce profiles a wide range of people around the country who are providing vital services, intuitive solutions and unrelenting activism.

Through the website, discussion forum and social media, the aim is to provide tangible ways for people to get involved. The intention is to inspire and inform, to challenge the idea that nothing is being done, to create a network of Actionists and to bring people who need help together with the people who can provide a solution. Nominate Actionists in your circle at www.theactionists.co.za or email [email protected]

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.