A powerless morning
WELTEVREDEN PARK – From cold showers to gridlocked traffic.
As if having a cold shower was not bad enough, most motorists were stuck in the gridlocked traffic, causing a delay of more than an hour this morning.
Among others, traffic lights on the intersections of Christiaan de Wet Road and John Voster Drive, JG Strydom and John Vorster drives and Hilary Road in Randpark Ridge were non-functional because of the power outage. Apparently some traffic lights on Hendrik Potgieter Road – between Peter Road and the R28/N14 were also out.
According to Weltevreden Park resident Mary le Roux, power might have gone off the previous night.
“I had a cold shower because I normally switch my geyser on at 4 am but when I woke up to switch it on there was no power,” explained Le Roux. The power outage also dug into the pockets of some residents like Le Roux. “I couldn’t have breakfast at home and also had to buy my children takeaways for their lunch,” she said.
Ward 126 councillor Mike Tonkin, however, stated that his power went off at around 11pm on 17 March. “As I’m talking to you right now, I have been without power for 12 hours,” furiously stated Tonkin.
He mentioned that his biggest frustration was the lack of transparency and communication from the power utility. “We do not know why there is no power and when we ask, we are never given the correct answer,” explained Tonkin.
He highlighted that if they as Ward councillors know what is happening they are able to give the right information to residents who flood councillors with calls when such incidents occur. With the hour delay that most residents experienced this morning, Tonkin said this was negative effect on the productivity of Johannesburg residents. “Productivity levels are worsened by lack of service delivery from the local government. In that hour that residents were in forced parking mode they could have done something productive,” highlighted Tonkin.
He said he tried to contact the City Power area manager for his ward to get an explanation on the outage, but unfortunately, the manager could not give a concrete answer.
Spokesperson for City Power Sol Masolo could not confirm the reason for the power outage nor confirm when will power be restored. “Currently, there are a number of load centres in the affected areas that are faulty and City Power Dispatch Centre has sent technicians to go and investigate the cause of the outages,” said Masolo.
