Parts of Tembisa plunged into darkness after substation torched

Some parts of Tembisa, in Ekurhuleni, have been left without power following the torching of the substation.

The City of Ekurhuleni said that a substation was set alight on Monday, when residents took to the streets in violent service delivery protest.

The Tembisa community is demanding that Mayor Tania Campbell address their grievances in person.

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An Ekurhuleni Municipality Customer Care Centre, including municipal and private vehicles were also set alight during the violent protest.

The City said while the area remains volatile, it is trying to restore power to residents.

“While the City is aware of the current situation, regarding the power in the area, unfortunately our technicians are unable to attend to the problem as the situation in the township remains volatile this putting their lives at risk.”

“The City commits to attend to the outage as soon as the situation on the ground becomes stable and the safety of the workers can be guarantee,” it said.

Areas that have been affected by the outage include, parts of Tembisa 1, Clayville, Olifantsfontein, Winnie Mandela and Birch Acres Extension 23 to 35.

The violent Tembisa shutdown has claimed the lives of at least four people.

Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and CoGTA, Lebogang Maile, has extends the provincial government’s condolences to the families of the four protesters.

“On behalf of the provincial government and people of Gauteng, we extend our deepest condolences to the affected families. We share their pain and grief.

“We condemn the use of excessive force to quell protest action, a right that is enshrined in our constitution. Equally, we condemn the violent nature of the protest, which led to the torching of public infrastructure.”

Maile has raised concerns regarding the destruction and torching of public infrastructure during service delivery protests in communities.

According to MEC Maile, “Burning of tyres and torching of public infrastructure should not be seen as a solution, but an act of criminality.

“Our communities must raise their grievances in a peaceful manner and most importantly, create space for solution orientated engagements, as the destruction of infrastructure during protest action will only exacerbate the problem.”

He has urged the City of Ekurhuleni, especially the Executive Mayor Tania Campbell, to urgently address the plight of the community of Hospital View as a matter of urgency.

Maile will be holding a press briefing looking at the persistent electricity crisis in the province including rising electricity billing costs, and service delivery challenges engulfing municipalities across the province.

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