Germiston residents are tired of the deteriorating electricity infrastructure.
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Webber Road in Delville has been without power for 13 days, and Els Street and Maritz in Elsburg have been having the same problem.
Webber Road resident Stephany Pretorius questioned why residents must suffer when they pay their taxes and rates on time.
“My account is up to date. I do not owe Ekurhuleni anything and have never been in arrears.
I cannot pay this kind of money every month and have my food going off in the fridge. Life is too expensive to waste food,” said Pretorius.
She said she reported the problem and received reference numbers – with no luck.
“Numerous emails have also been sent to the mayor’s office and councillors.”
According to residents, a technician who was on-site at the box said he forgot gloves and fuses and then left.
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“Appliances are getting damaged from these unplanned outages and residents have to suffer and pay for repairs.
How is this fair? We are not even given answers,” said Pretorius.
In a previous comment by the City of Ekurhuleni, the metro stated the electricity woes are because of ageing infrastructure.
The executive mayor promised in her State of the City address to focus on three key priorities – stabilising the city’s energy grid and decreasing dependence on Eskom, reprioritising the city’s budget towards service delivery and infrastructure renewal and fixing potholes and maintaining the city’s roads to promote growth in the local economy.
Residents are yet to see the action of these promises.
Lamdel Resident Association asked residents to sign a petition as a way of demanding action from the CoE regarding the electricity issue.
“The constant power outage has harmed businesses and residents.
“We need to hear from the council on what the situation is and their plan of action. These are not power outages anymore, it is blackouts.
“A power outage is a short-term, short interval, intermittent event, ours is far beyond that. We have rolling blackouts,” said Lamdel chairperson Lamdel Resident’s Association chairperson Jakkie Janse van Vuuren.
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She said at the time of submitting the petition they had about 466 signatures signed in less than 24 hours.
“Residents need answers and they need them now. We are in the middle of winter and businesses cannot keep running on borrowed time because that’s how it feels now,” said Janse van Vuuren.
At the time of going to print, the city had not responded to a request for comment sent on June 23.
