They called on the mayor and those responsible for maintenance to solve the problem or to make way for someone else who can.
Fresh off the latest bouts of load-shedding, Alberton was hit by a spade of power outages throughout the week.
Areas severely affected by the outages include Raceview, New Redruth, Alberton North, Verwoerdpark and areas of Brackendowns and Brackenhurst.
For many residents and businesses in Alberton, these latest power outages were the last straw and they demand answers and accountability from those responsible.
Bring back our power
Fed up with the power crisis, experienced business owners and residents got together on June 18 to protest against the mismanagement of the power grid.
The protest, which was organised by residents independent of political parties, saw residents take to the streets of Alberton on mass in their vehicles to slow down and disrupt traffic. The messages the protesters carried were to make Alberton great again and bring back its power.
ALSO READ: Alberton deserves the truth about power outages
Business owners lamented the extreme effect that the extended lack of power had on their businesses. According to some of the protesters, their business has been brought to a complete standstill.
Losses from power outages reportedly can cost these businesses thousands of rand when they are unable to complete their orders. Repeated surges of power as the grid is turned on just to trip again have also lead to damage of equipment within the businesses.
The severity of this has led to a coffee shop having to temporarily close their doors as the fridges have been so damaged by the surges that are unable to trade until repairs are made.
No work, no pay
Employees are just as hard hit as the businesses as they are unable to work for their money.
Speaking to the RECORD, employees of an Alberton factory sitting on the sidewalk due to being unable to work stated that the power outages are killing them.
The employees, many of who travel from far to reach their workplace, arrive at work only to find the power out at their workplace.
The policy of no work, no pay has a severe effect on these workers as the cost of travelling takes all the money they can earn from the few hours they can work when power is available.
Their most important request was that the municipality communicate more efficiently when power outages are happening so that they do not have to spend money to travel when they can’t work.
The citizens of Alberton has called on the executive mayor, councillor Mzwandile Masina, and the departments responsible for the maintenance of the electricity infrastructure to either solve the problems or step down so that someone else can.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Prolonged Alberton power cuts trigger protest
