The chickens have come home to roost for elected leaders who make wildly unrealistic promises whenever an election approaches. The electricity protests in Soweto this week show the result: a culture of entitlement is now ingrained in our communities.Councillors, who should be the ones most closely interacting with communities, succumb to the allure of populism. For years they have used people, especially in the townships, as voting fodder and have promised them free services.It is shocking to hear residents of Orlando, Soweto, say they do not want prepaid electricity meters but want to pay an "affordable" flat rate. Many say they were promised free electricity by politicians.Eskom is introducing prepaid meters across the country to improve its revenue collection. Soweto alone owes it about R4-billion.Gloria Moseke, an Orlando resident, summed up the prevail-ing attitude yesterday."They came to my neighbour with the prepaid meter and threatened to disconnect her house if she did not take it. That is wrong. I am unemployed. I sell fruit on the side of the road. I cannot afford a prepaid [meter] because it means there will be days that I go without electricity."The prepaid metering system has been successfully implemented in most parts of the country and consumers pay only for the power they use. There are no longer estimates of usage.The continuing standoff in Soweto is affecting local tourism. Businesses along the famous Khumalo and Vilakazi streets, in Orlando West, are bleeding thousands of rands because tourists have not been able to visit the area because of the protests.Free electricity, free water, free healthcare, free housing and many more free services have been provided by the government to appease the masses.But if our people can afford nice-to-haves, they can afford to pay to keep the lights on...