Another week, another power failure in a Germiston suburb.
This has become the norm for Germiston, with some of these outages sometimes lasting for days at a time.
From Germiston CBD, Meadowbrook, Wilbart, Solheim, Symhurst, Sunnyridge, Gerdview, Homestead, Marlands, Primrose, Fishers’ Hill, Sunnyrock, Dawnview, Meadowdale, Primrose East, Albemarle, Dinwiddie, Castleview, Wadeville, Mimosa Park, Hazel Park, Lambton, Hazeldene, Leondale, Elspark and Elsburg to name a few, there seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing outages that disrupt the daily lives of the city’s residents.
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The GCN follows up on each complaint and outage even when our own offices are also plunged into darkness.
On Thursday Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, divisional head for the metro’s communication and media relations department responded to the GCN’s queries on the stability of Germiston’s power system.
“The supply is stable,” said Cebekhulu.
“The metro does refurbish and maintain the network whenever necessary.
“Human interference in the supply of electricity is a huge concern and cable theft and theft of electricity infrastructure is a societal problem that everyone must play a role in rooting out.
“We have invested in technological systems that will alert us whenever there is tampering or theft of our electricity components.”
For Ward 36 councillor Wendy Morgan this statement couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The only thing that is stable is that there is an outage everyday somewhere in Germiston,” said Morgan.
“I am glad to hear that the metro is putting security measures in place to alert authorities to tampering, but my huge concern is the turnaround time for repairs.
“Businesses are left for days or even weeks without power.
“How do we expect to grow an economy in this way?
“Residents are also left for days without power.”
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Another concern for Morgan, and a sentiment shared by many community members, is the metro’s call-taking centre.
“The metro’s call-taking centre is a nightmare for residents,” said Morgan.
“If the call does get answered and it’s a follow-up query the call centre personnel do not have feedback or a reason for an area outage and therefore they give standard answers.
“Communication really needs to be worked on.”
Lornette Joseph LamDel Residents Association (RA) chairperson shared her thoughts on the metro’s statement.
“I would love to know which parts of Germiston has a stable power supply,” Joseph said.
“Perhaps the system has been more stable than it has been, but there are still a number of areas that have power issues.
“It is not just about the metro fixing major issues; regular maintenance must be undertaken.
“Maybe a specialised team needs to be considered, one that will go around tightening lines, inspecting trees, laying cables and such things.”
The city’s residents, at their wits’ end, shared their frustration with the GCN.
“This situation is getting out of control.
“There is not a week that goes by that our power is not off in Mimosa Park and Klippoortje,” said Janet Greyling.
Ester de Lange also shared her sentiments.
“This is happening more and more and for longer and longer periods of time,” de Lange said.
“When you phone the metro’s call centre, they don’t even bother to answer the phones.
“Traffic lights are not working and street lights are not working.
“What is working in Ekurhuleni?”
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Marlene Zwarts questioned why solutions couldn’t be found.
“Why can’t the problems be fixed?” said Zwarts.
“Why do you have people in a call centre that can’t give you accurate information and why are they so rude to put the phone down in your ear?”
One Elspark resident, who did not wish to be named, claimed she was told the outages were caused by vandalism of the power system.
The GCN followed-up on the claims.
Const Daphney Phooko, communications officer for the Elsburg police confirmed a case of theft was open at the Niemand Substation recently.
“Following the theft a security guard was placed on site,” Phooko said.
“The community is encouraged to report any suspicious activities around substations to their nearest police station.”
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za or Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za.
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