Residents of Anastasia Courts in Germiston have been left frustrated after a power outage on October 10, affecting the entire apartment building.
Several tenants are now threatening to withhold rent payments due to ongoing electricity issues.
The outage began when five apartments lost power on Wednesday due to overloading, causing circuit breakers to blow.
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Apartment manager Santa Deyzel revealed that the building has been grappling with electrical problems for over two years, with no response from the City of Ekurhuleni.
Deyzel said that the building has faced unauthorised connections and substation vandalism.
“We welded the substation doors to secure them, and while no parts have been stolen since, illegal connections in the area continue to disrupt our power,” she said.
According to Deyzel, neighbors have repeatedly connected to the grid illegally, even after disconnections by the city.
“We lost connection to the third phase of our building two years ago, and while we’ve tried to manage with the remaining phases, one of those failed in September, leaving the entire building reliant on a single phase,” she added.
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As a result, tenants are growing increasingly frustrated and threatening not to pay rent until the issue is resolved.
“Despite numerous reports and reference numbers, the city has yet to assist us,” Deyzel lamented.
The Germiston City News (GCN) reached out to the City of Ekurhuleni for comment on October 11.
At the time of publication, no response had been received.
