Residents protest after a week of no electricity
The mini substation exploded leaving residents without electricity for almost a week.
Kwa-Thema – Frustrated residents barricaded Thema Road and Ntsindi Street in a protest for electricity on June 19.
The residents have been without power for almost a week due to a damaged mini-substation. The road was filled with burning tyres and rocks.
A community member who requested to remain anonymous said their ward councillor, Celiwe Nkosi addressed the community on Friday.
“The councillor said the energy department doesn’t have enough money and material to fix the mini-substation.
“She also notified us that the department would assist us on Tuesday only for them not to show up,” the disgruntled community member said.
The residents said the power outage has affected their livelihoods.
“Our food is spoilt, our electrical appliances are damaged, and our children are struggling to bear this cold weather,” he said.
Nkosi confirmed that the department is aware of the electricity outage and that it is due to financial strains.
“The department has no stock of material needed to re-energise the affected area,” she said.
A resolution was made that Nkosi would take three delegates nominated by the community to the Brakpan Customer Care Centre for intervention from the energy department. The three delegates were allowed to articulate the community dissatisfaction to the department.
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“We were attended by the energy engineer, Chayela Rasenga and customer care employee, Lindsey Mohloele.
“The cables and circuit breakers are burnt. The department has stated that without conducting a proper audit and normalising meter boxes, it is impossible to restore energy.
“Such explosions are caused by overloading,” she revealed.
At the time of receiving the councillor’s comment, which was later in the day, the electricity had not yet been restored.
“It has not been restored due to the audit process which will be completed today. Normalising and replacing meters will commence tomorrow morning immediately.
“The community will be re-energised, I am hoping that this mentioned process will be completed by tomorrow afternoon,” she added.
