Power problems continues in Elsburg

The Elsburg community members took their frustrations to the streets as another round of power outages unfolded.

On July 5, residents of five affected streets, including Maritz, Kopje, Plein and Fourie, lit fires to prepare food outdoors to show how difficult it was to live without electricity.

Even though the eventual power restoration happened later that evening, the residents had already been without power for more than two weeks.

According to resident Margaret Sekul, law enforcement officers visited the area earlier in the week to disperse the crowd and accused residents of an illegal assembly.

Sekul said the affected residents had gathered to decide on a course of action because the power had not been restored for a week by then.

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“There are rumours that the municipality has not paid contractors, so power-related problems were not attended to. How is that our problem when we paid our tariffs to the city?

“Not everyone has access to a gas stove. I recently had heart surgery, so living here without power is difficult,” said Sekul.

“There are residents dependent on oxygen, and they are helpless. One of our residents is supposed to nebulise her father every two hours,” said Sekul.

Jennifer Mphuney said she cares for 10 foster and adopted children, but there is no power.

“Our food rots because our refrigerators are off,” said Mphuney.

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“This leads to additional expenses not covered by the SASSA money I receive for the children I care for.

How can one survive without electricity for two weeks? My house was disconnected on July 4 while we were without power.

“Given that the streets are dark, my children are more exposed to criminal elements,” said Mphuney.

Residents resorted to continue cooking and burning wood on the street to demonstrate their level of survival. In addition to frying onions, they were also making pap.

An upset resident in the crowd alleged that his wife has asthma and that circumstances are making her condition worse.

“The municipal offices will be too small for all of us if something happened to my wife,” said Deon Bester.

Jean Brummer said it is a challenge to care for his six-month-old child without power.

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“The CoE call centre does not offer much assistance. Streetlights have not been working for four years,” said Brummer.

Alet Brummer (not related to Jean Brummer) relies on her oxygen machine which lasts for two hours when fully charged.

She had to purchase a battery to charge the device when there is no electricity.

“If there is no electricity to charge the battery, what is the point of buying one?”

According to Anna Rossouw, they are not battling the municipality, but rather demanding the services they have paid for.

“A few months ago, residents resorted to burning tyres on Voortrekker Street to be heard.

“The next day, the power was restored. Is that the best course of action? The substation must be secured as it is continuously vandalised.”

The GCN sent a request for comment to the City of Ekurhuleni on July 6 at 10:40.

Comment was requested by July 7 at 10:00. At the time of going to print no comment had been received.