‘We don’t owe you’ – City of Ekurhuleni on Eskom’s prolonged power outages

As the country battles exacerbated power cuts, the City of Ekurhuleni said it has written to Eskom seeking clarity on outages affecting several communities which is unrelated to the scheduled load shedding or municipal infrastructure faults.

According to the city, several areas have been affected, including Reiger Park, Germiston, Kempton Park, Spruitview and Katlehong.

Higher stages of load shedding

Acting Ekurhuleni mayor, MMC Brandon Pretorius, said numerous other areas across the city have also experienced prolonged and irregular power outages.

“This has caused secondary damage to infrastructure, including theft and vandalism. It has also left residents vulnerable to criminal activity.”

He said the city is up to date with its payments to Eskom.

“Without an explanation from Eskom, it must be assumed that the national grid is in a perilous state – however, for political expediency, this cannot be communicated.

“It is the belief of this multiparty coalition that Eskom is implementing higher stages of load shedding while claiming lower stages,” Pretorius said.

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Uncertainty

The correspondence said since Ekurhuleni started experiencing outages MMCs and officials have been working to get answers from Eskom.

“Right at this moment, we do not know if this will continue into today. And, unfortunately, our infrastructure cannot handle this – so we are often not sure if it’s Eskom, a fault or even theft; and this means that the team must investigate, adding further delays.”

“We ask that we all prepare for the worst again today, but we are hoping whatever crisis Eskom found itself in is over,” it said.

Way forward

Meanwhile, Pretorius said Ekurhuleni is trying to find a way forward.

“The MMC for Water, Sanitation and Energy, Senzi Sibeko, and officials in his office are in constant contact with Eskom to find a sustainable way forward as to what has become an untenable situation.

“I have also engaged the MMC for Community Safety, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, to ensure that EMPD patrols are increased to keep both residents and municipal infrastructure safe. On behalf of the city, I would like to extend my apologies to all residents for these sporadic outages,” he said.

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