The GCN received a call from a concerned Primrose East resident, on November 12.
Lincoln Raymond told a GCN journalist that, for a month, he has been, and still is, experiencing power outages that he blames on trees in Fir Avenue, that touch electricity cables.
“There are trees on our street close to my house and, whenever there are strong winds, the trees touch the cables and this causes the electricity at my house to trip,” said Raymond.
“This has been going on for a month, but the first time I called the municipality they argued with me, saying the trees aren’t the cause.
I have, however, seen it myself: the minute the wind blows the lights at my house trip.”
Raymond also alleged that, on November 8, municipal workers came around, supposedly to fix the problem.
“They came here, but they told me that they don’t think the tree is causing my lights to trip and that it might be something else, and left,” he explained.
“We were without power on Saturday, November 8, from 7am to 3pm, and I really find it hard to believe that the problem can’t be associated with the trees, especially since I have witnessed it happening.”
The metro told GCN they have noted all the tree complaints.
“The complaint will be recorded and attended to as soon as we are done with complaints already on the list,” said the metro’s communications and brand management spokesman, Themba Gadebe.
“Currently we have a back log of tree complaints.”
Frits du Toit also called the GCN and, among other things, alleged that trees trip power in his street, as well.
“I live in Stevens Street, Elsburg, and there are trees that keep touching the cables which, in turn, causes the power to trip in our homes,” he explained.
“This is a big problem, because, when the power goes off, it goes for a long time and the food in the fridge goes off, while this continuous on-and-off issue could damage our appliances, something needs to be done about this.”
Due to the fact that Frits had more than one complaint, the GCN couldn’t get comment from the metro before going to print.
