Following a service delivery protest by angry Klipfontein View residents, the City Power Midrand Service Delivery Centre (SDC) was unable to provide services.
The protest on August 5 brought traffic to a halt at the intersection of Allandale, Saraseen, and Kynoch roads.
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The protest was organised by disgruntled residents who were triggered by prolonged water outages.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the service delivery protest impacts how the entity responds to power supply interruptions in the area.
He said due to the protest, Allendale Road has been barricaded with rocks and burning tyres, making it difficult for their technicians to access certain areas to attend to power outage calls.
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“Although there’s currently no medium voltage outage in that area, customers with isolated outage cases will be affected by delays associated with the protest. Additionally, should there be an area outage while the protest is still ongoing, customers could encounter delays, as there are currently no viable routes to access some of the areas we service such as Kliptown, Mayibuye, Allendale, and surroundings,” said Mangena.
He said City Power will spare no effort in trying to attend to all logged outage calls, however they will do so while prioritising the safety and security of their technicians.
“Our employees have been previously attacked during such public demonstrations and so, while we wish to address all outages timeously, it’s important that we do not put their lives in harm’s way,” he added.
Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla said Allandale Road was barricaded with burning tyres, rocks, and debris.
“Officers have been dispatched to assess the situation and assist with diverting vehicles away from the affected areas. The closures are causing significant traffic disruptions between Midrand and Tembisa/Kempton Park in Ekurhuleni,” said Fihla.
He said motorists should expect heavy delays as they navigate the area.
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