Barbeque Downs residents experience over 100 hours of unplanned power outage.

Barbeque Downs residents have experienced more than 100 hours of power outages, excluding load-shedding, since January 13 and they’re fired up and demanding action.

The long hours of unplanned power outages are reportedly due to faulty and ageing infrastructure in the area but residents want remedies, not reasons.
According to concerned residents, they have experienced power outages without any communication or updates from Eskom.

“From January 13 to 15 we had about 50 hours of power outages and it hasn’t been the same since then. Between February 12 and 13 we also had about 30 hours of power outages. It is unacceptable. We are paying for electricity, but we are not getting the service.
“Think of the old people who have been compromised, the children, and all the people who are working from home. We need a resolution. We need a plan on what can be done to combat the issue,” said Roscoe Segers who is a resident of the Barbeque Downs area.

“My dad works from home, but it hasn’t been easy for him. The laptop and cell phone batteries are dead, so he had to go back to the office which creates other expenses.
“We had to throw away food and have to buy food all the time, which is very expensive. It has reached a point where contacting Eskom is pointless. We rather ask the contractors what is the problem and how long it will take,” resident Tijil Jugadoe said.

Ward 132 councillor Annette Deppe said Eskom conducted an audit and discovered that three main lines had been badly damaged over the years and needed to be serviced.
Eskom said that some cables were damaged by the contractors working in the area.
“It is a frustrating situation. They need to invest in the infrastructure which has been damaged over the years and stop blaming contractors.”

The Fourways Review requested comment from the contractor on February 21 and was instructed to meet them on site on February 22. Despite waiting for an hour and a half, no-one was available to speak to the newspaper.

Eskom was contacted for comment on February 21. They requested reference numbers for further investigation. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.

IN TWEETS: 

Typical @Eskom_SA will always be on time for #Loadshedding. It’s been >24hours without power… at least the next 24 hours of #Loadshedding should be suspended #KyalamiOutage our local councilor has indicated that she can’t help with this!

— Maine (@mainemof) January 14, 2023

Loadshedding us at 10pm after +30 hours of no electricity will be a crime against humanity.

— Trevor Kana (@KanaTrevor) January 14, 2023

Thank you @Eskom_SA for an (1) hour, 17 minutes of electricity after 44 hours of no electricity. You’ll are way too kind… #KyalamiOutage #EskomGauteng

— Sanele (@snlncwane) January 15, 2023

We're at 41 hours now with still no electricity in Kyalami and Barbeque Downs. Where's your update on what's happening? Absolutely pathetic.

— Bronwynn Roux (@brox209) January 15, 2023

@Eskom_SA @CityPowerJhb @annettedeppe Kyalami is still without power?!? It came back then went off again. Please we cannot spare any more hours of this outage. We’ve got babies, our food is going off. Please get to the bottom of this

— Oratiile26 (@Thee_ratiile) January 15, 2023

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