Days without power due to cable theft, load-shedding
Residents had to throw away their food that had gone rotten, while others had their appliances blown
Frustrated residents in the lower part of Lilianton and Witfield are calculating the costs of damaged appliances and having to chuck out food that has gone off as a result of a recent extended power outage.
According to one of the upset community leaders, Charlene Day, they were left without power for several days. This was due to cable theft and system failure caused by illegal connections.
It was compounded by an old infrastructure that could not withstand continuous switching on and off during load-shedding.
“The lights went off midday on September 25 and power was restored at about 18:00 on Tuesday, September 27,” said Day.
Metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini confirmed the cable theft resulted in the prolonged outage.
“The city’s technicians made tireless efforts to restore power to the area after the underground cables were stolen,” said Dlamini.
Recounting their experiences of frequent power outages, Day said many residents had to throw away their food that had gone rotten. Others had their appliances, including a microwave at one of the homesteads on Lilian Avenue, blown apparently as a result of a surge in electrical power.
“I have already sent out the claim form to the affected community members to officially file claims,” said Day.
She also pointed out that the frequent outages are compounded by the attitude of energy department senior officials in dealing with the massive illegal connections by residents of the nearby Angelo informal settlement.
This perceived lackluster performance has also led to a communication breakdown between the community and the energy department’s senior officials, prompting residents to escalate the power issues to the office of the mayor. They also threatened to take the matter to the Public Protector’s Office.
Another resident of the area, Andrew Lee, said ratepayers are plunged into darkness so that the informal settlement residents can have power.
“We cannot sit back and be bullied like this. All we ask is for service and for illegal connections to be removed as it is affecting our grid.
“We have been actively involved with the council to provide valuable information regarding illegal connections to make sure it’s kept under control. Instead, we receive vulgar emails and threats to be blocked if we dare ask for our power to be restored,” reads the email sent by Lee to the energy department.
Van Dyk Park also affected
Meanwhile, a resident of Crossberry Street in van Dyk Park, 64-year-old Abrie Conradie, also bemoaned the energy department’s ‘poor’ service delivery after his house was left without power for days following load-shedding.
The lights went out in their area at 18:00 as part of the ongoing rolling blackouts, but when the electricity supply was turned on at 20:00, his house remained without power.
He reported the problem to the metro on Tuesday and was issued with a reference number, but no one had come to address the problem by Thursday morning when he contacted the Advertiser.
“I believe that when the electricity came back on after load-shedding the meter box outside tripped. I made several follow-up calls and all that they could tell me is ‘your case is on the waiting list so you must wait’.
“We are now forced to throw away food since it had gone rotten due to the electricity outage. It’s an absolute pathetic service we get from the metro.”
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