Goedeburg residents must be patient, report power cuts
The rain is a factor but there are different facets to how the rain contributes to the problem.
A resident of Goedeburg, which falls in ward 23, says the area has been plagued by power cuts since the first rains in June.
“This has happened without fail every time it rains,” said the resident, who wished to remain anonymous.
“When you add load-shedding, it means we are off due to the rain for anywhere between three to 12 hours.”
Although on a community Whatsapp group with ward councillor Andre du Plessis, the disgruntled resident says they are not being kept updated and that “nothing is being done”.
“People on the WhatsApp group are extremely frustrated at having no update and are urging the councillor to stop giving reports and actually hold an urgent meeting with the Eskom HOD. If this was dealt with urgently months ago we wouldn’t be stuck with rain shedding during this season,” the resident said.
Trees in the area were blamed for interfering with power lines but the resident says even after these were trimmed the power cuts persisted.
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Du Plessis told the Boksburg Advertiser it is a blatant lie that residents are not being updated.
“I am well aware of the power interruptions in Goedeburg and to a small section of Brentwood Park. I am working relentlessly alongside my ward committee and the relevant council departments to get to the root of the problem.
There is, however, only so much myself and my team can do,” he said.
“We post updates on a daily basis as we receive them from the department. We are talking to the relevant departments regularly and keeping our residents up to date.
“One issue identified was overhanging trees. When the trees get wet from rain they sag even more and with the water on the trees interfering with overhead wires, this causes the substation to trip.”
Du Plessis said the parks department did bring a “cherry picker” vehicle and the trees were trimmed away from the power lines.
“This was a preventative measure. However, the power tripped again after the trees had been pruned, which indicates there may be another problem.
“I discussed this with the engineer, saying it could be a cable fault being aggravated by the rain. There is the possibility a cable was damaged, perhaps even a year or two ago, and has now deteriorated,” he explained.
The issue is multi-faceted, du Plessis added.
“There has been substantial growth in Goedeburg, with many new townhouse complexes built in recent years. So there could be an issue of overloading of the substation. This is not for me to determine, it is merely an observation. It is a process of elimination to get to the cause of the power tripping.
“We are pulling out all the stops to resolve the issue and apologise to residents for the inconvenience and urge them to bear with us.”
Du Plessis highlighted that residents should be aware that overtime work by the council is also an issue.
“All overtime is capped at 40 hours per person per month as per council, so when a problem occurs at night or on weekends, it will take longer to get resolved.”
He pleaded with residents to report service delivery problems, especially if these are ongoing.
“Residents are not reporting their faults. If 10 people report a fault it is better than one person reporting a fault,” he stressed.
“Complaints, faults and reference numbers are logged onto the Ekurhuleni system. These reference numbers go into the Ekurhuleni metro’s system and, ultimately, into annual audited reports.
“If it is determined through these complaints lodged on the system that certain areas are problematic, then action could be taken such as setting otu a budget for example replacing ageing infrastructure.
“I make an urgent appeal to residents to report all faults. Their reference number will assist into the future to determine whether the infrastructure of an area may need upgrading.”
Report service delivery issues:
• Call Centre: 0860 543 000
• Twitter: @CoE_Call_Centre
• Email: call.centre@ekurhuleni.gov.za
• My CoE App
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