The Monday power curse was back on Monday, with many Germiston suburbs again experiencing a power outage.
This is the third Monday, almost in succession, that suburbs, including Tedstoneville Extension One, Fishers’ Hill, Sunnyridge, Homestead, Gerdview, Dawnview and Primrose have been left without power.
To make matters worse in Wattle Street, Homestead, when the power was turned back on residents experienced a power surge which damaged many electrical appliances.
Willem Pieterse said: “Every time we hear that it is cable theft, or the substation, and today we all have just had enough.
“We had a power surge which damaged all our electrical equipment, from microwaves and electric gate motors to lights and swimming pool pumps.”
Pieterse added that the residents are going to be claiming from the metro for the damage done to their goods.
Louis and Soreta Grobler and their children, Luhandré (6), Twané (21) and Luzinda (18), had a scary experience with regard to the power surge.
“The power was off for most of the day, but in the afternoon we kept having strange dips, it would come on and go off almost straight away,” said Soreta.
Not really thinking anything of it they continued to wait patiently for the power to be restored.
“Then, at about 4.40pm, we heard three loud bangs from the master bedroom.
“Louis ran to the room to check what was going on and then came back towards the kitchen to turn off the main electricity board,” said a shaken Soreta.
“However, before he could do that, the light fitting in the kitchen exploded and caught fire.”
Luckily, the Groblers have fire extinguishers and the blaze was quickly put out by Louis, but Soreta said the family was badly shaken up.
“Luhandré started to cry and tried to escape out the door – he was very upset and wouldn’t even sleep in the house that evening, he stayed in the flatlet with his sister Luzinda.
“The girls and I were also traumatised by the fire, as you think of things like what would have happened if we had not been at home at the time,” Soreta said.
The Groblers contacted their bank and opened an insurance claim and also lodged a complaint with the metro.
“We are still waiting for the metro to send an electrician to check that everything is in order before we switch the power back on,” Soreta said.
Once power has been restored they can then assess the damage caused by the surge and put in a claim against the metro.
The Groblers thanked their neighbours for taking the time to show that they care about them, by offering food and hot water and checking to see if they were alright.
“We appreciate how amazing they all were,” Soreta said.
The GCN requested comment from the metro with regard to the power outage.
Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro said: “The feeder breaker feeding these areas at the Germiston North Substation was faulty, causing a power outage to the areas supplied”
When asked why the power outages kept occurring on a Monday, Gadebe said this was just coincidental and not planned.
“Power was restored to 80 per cent of the affected areas by 10am and all other areas had power by 7pm,” he said.
On Thursday morning the power in the suburbs mentioned was once again out.
The GCN is awaiting comment from the metro.
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