Poor service delivery is pushing some residents into a dark place

Poor service delivery has been a bone of contention for residents for years, but the last few weeks have seen frustration and stress rise to never-before-seen levels.

A resident, whose identity will remain private out of respect for the affected family, said an elderly neighbour had recently committed suicide and listed load-shedding and unplanned power outages as contributing to unacceptably high stress and anxiety.

Below is a snapshot of lived experiences of a couple of residents or business owners in our footprint who are being pushed to their limits of resourcefulness and ability to continue contributing to the local economy.

The elderly

Lorna Sommers is the manager at the Methodist Homes Montgomery Haven in Montgomery Park. The paper first interviewed her a year ago to understand how residents were coping with load-shedding then.

Speaking now she said, “I regularly have residents in my office in floods of tears as across the board mental health is deteriorating. Many do not have the resources to buy additional equipment to counteract outages leaving them to often sit in the cold and the dark when the electricity is out. The two or three-day stints really play havoc with the elderly or those who are on oxygen for example. The stress of trying to manage all of this is extraordinary for us who manage the home, and for residents who live here.”

She describes keeping a careful eye on some who are ‘at breaking point’.

When asked about water supply, she said, “We have a borehole, luckily, so we are able to counter any problems on that front at least fairly adequately, thank goodness!

“I often wonder and worry though about the elderly who do not have a support system like those here, who are perhaps living alone and without nearby or close family. I wonder how they are coping with all the stress of poor service delivery and the terrible anxiety it causes.”

Parents

Roshana Burnett says she struggles with the stress of trying to help her 16-year-old daughter who is struggling with ongoing power cuts. “Load-shedding is tough enough to cope with, especially the four-hour cuts, but the extended outages following those are crippling. My daughter is in the middle of exams and is riddled with anxiety at the moment. All I want to do is find a solution to help her better, but I am out of options. As a parent, you feel completely helpless. I have a great job and yet am unable to keep up with rising costs and feel like I am denying my children things they should have access to, simple things like electricity. It is a truly debilitating feeling. The worst thing I believe is to feel hopeless… I am not there yet, but I am close.”

Bridget van Oerle is a single mother who owns her own small PR business and lives in Westdene. She is flabbergasted at the state of the city and says load-shedding makes her life ‘absolutely impossible’.

“We must do something to bring about change, but what? Do we pay our rates and taxes elsewhere? The revolving mayors are disastrous for every department and the staff in the city with morale on the floor. All departments seem to be under-resourced and unable to do their work. I also think corruption is rampant. Why has nobody from the government stepped in to stop this?

“Westdene has had water problems for years and we had massive vandalism to our substations, which interrupted the power supply. As residents, we had to step in to fundraise, and with a security company we now control them and make sure they are not tampered with.

“I do not know how people are coping for those who can’t afford to make alternative plans like having an inverter or small gas stove, for example. I really don’t. I have a gas stove so I can warm up water in a bowl to wash and cook on, at least. The cost of living is rising so I can’t afford to shop as I used to as food does not last long enough as the fridge is hardly on these days. It is madness.

“Not everyone has a car obviously, but walking around the city in the dark during load-shedding has become so dangerous as criminals know when outages are happening just like we do, and they are opportunistic. Also, not everyone has the privilege of having private security at home. Joburg is a really scary and stressful place at the moment, on so many levels.”

Small business owner

Awande Mabaso lives in Roosevelt Park and runs her mindfulness business which offers support like a life coach or counsellor might. She too is feeling the pressure of trying to survive and keep herself above water with rising costs and poor service delivery.

“I am in a role to support others while feeling anxious myself. Across the board the city is failing but power cuts are the worst.”

She describes her clients, who are mostly professionals, as having a ‘significant drop in mental health’ recently.

“I am seeing stress levels at staggering levels for parents who are worried about being able to give their children a warm meal or adequate support for their education. Others are finding it difficult to perform as they should when unable to find a power supply to use in order to submit reports or work if working after hours and away from the office generator.”

Others, she says, are suffering in a different – by no less damaging way by being without access to distractions like the television or
cellphone. “If you are in a toxic family environment or perhaps dealing with emotional trauma it can be extremely tough to sit in silence, often in the dark, with no ability to divert your thoughts if they become negative.”

Residents without water or power

Deon de Lange lives in Westdene in a high-lying area of the city and is ‘beyond frustrated’ at often having to live without water. “Not even being able to shower is crazy when the water goes off for any number of reasons, often linked to it not being pumped due to power outages. At the moment my car is in for repairs so I can’t even go and buy water. It takes 10 litres to flush the toilet! I am also really struggling with work when the water is out because I need to be able to clean my equipment. We desperately need an intervention from someone, from anyone with influence.”

Jaco Fourie from Fairland said, “An additional cost of fuel for my generator is in the vicinity of R2 000 each month with virtually no change in my electricity bill is crazy and an expense that has to be covered.”

Communities rise in protest

Residents in Ward 88 recently came together to peacefully protest several times along Beyers Naudé to show their anger at the lack of services received from the city. They do not have one entity in their sights but are rather across the board frustrated by City Power, Johannesburg Water, Johannesburg Roads Agency, and others in what they see as an almost ‘failed city’.

A spokesperson for the informal group Michael O’Donovan said, “The community is angry about a wide variety of service delivery crises and corruption. This is not about load-shedding; we understand that is on the cards right now. This is about the power outages that follow load-shedding, which leaves people for days without power at times. It is about water problems, road quality deterioration, neglect of infrastructure, and so on. We are fed up, angry, and united.”

They have vowed to continue peacefully protesting until service delivery levels return to acceptable levels across the ward, as well as in the city as a whole.

Related Article:

Ward 88 residents protest lack of service delivery and corruption