Early morning traffic was disrupted on the N2 North near the Sibaya offramp when angry protesters demanded their electricity be switched back on.
Enraged residents of the Blackburn Village informal settlement, carrying a sign saying “put power on now”, blocked the highway with branches and tyres, forcing motorists to drive around the obstruction on the shoulder meridian.
Ethekwini DA ward councillor, Geoff Pullen said he stopped and spoke to the protesters, who were waiting for their ANC ward councilor to arrive, and they claimed the municipality cut their power on Sunday.
“Ethekwini Metro’s electricity department said that the residents made illegal connections that caused the system to blow,” said Pullen after looking into the matter.
The team that was sent out today to fix the problem was threatened and forced to switch the power back on before they could disconnect the illegal connections. As the team had warned the angry residents, the system blew and tripped again.
“It was a miracle nobody has been incinerated yet, because they also illegally connected to the heavy duty cable,” he said.
“Electricity connections need to be safe and cannot just be switched on without the proper safety measures in place.”
Ethekwini Metro Police moved the group to the side of the road where they waited for their ANC councillor to arrive.
The road was cleared by 10.30am.
