After being left in the dark for days, residents of Bardene and Beyers Park decided to take the lead on a project to restore power in their neighbourhoods.
On Saturday morning, residents reportedly held a meeting to demand that their electricity be restored. That’s where a decision was taken to fix the problem themselves instead of waiting for municipal workers.
According to Ward 22 councillor Ruhan Robinson, residents of the two suburbs have been experiencing perpetual power outages for weeks due to faulty power cables.
This came after two of the three feeder cables buried in the waterlogged ground under the Elizabeth Road bridge, running over the N12, was damaged.
As a result, the metro reportedly opted to implement load rotation and cut-offs to prevent overloading the single feeder cable left to supply the affected areas.
Videos of residents draining the swamp were shared on social media pages over the weekend:
Robinson said the Energy Department wanted to wait for more than a week for the water to dry up before fixing the damaged cables.
However, residents couldn’t take it anymore. They started to drain the water themselves, and it took them only Saturday and Sunday to get it done.
Municipal workers arrived and managed to fix one of the damaged cables before power was restored on Sunday.
According to Ruhan, workers were expected to fix the third cable on February 8.
“It’s just strange that it took residents only two days to do what the municipality wanted to wait for more than a week before working on the issue.
“At last people have power but these are only temporary measures. A long-term solution would entail rerouting the power line. It is for that reason that we are petitioning the municipality to make funds available for the project to reroute the feeder cables,” explained Robinson.
Boksburg residents are encouraged to sign the petition, asking the government to do full maintenance on the power utility and to consider long-term plans to prevent power disruptions in the area.
The petition is available here: https://www.petitions.net/call_for_urgent_upgrade_to_electrical_infrastructure_in_beyerspark_and_bardene?uv=32664399&utm_source=whatsapp
The metro has not yet responded to our questions with regards to the power problems.
Some residents took to Facebook to express their frustrations, and mutual admiration for the way residents handled the situation.
These are some of your comments:
Rene Borchers: Very irritating!!Junita Moonsamy: It’s so annoying.
Nastasia Chatwind: Pissed off is an understatement.
Allen Mee: We did what council said was impossible.
Allen Mee: Yes, community draining the swamp.
Amelia Ferreira Da Silva: Unbelievable!!!!!
Hansie Myburgh: And we did it… thanks to this community.
Sanet Nortman: Awesome work and standing together as a community. I have hope again.
Also Read: Power Crisis: Boksburg residents subjected to daily power outages
