R55 closed by livid protesters demanding power be restored
The residents vowed to return by afternoon peak traffic if power was not returned.
Protesting residents blocked the R55 in Heuweloord and Raslouw West, affecting morning traffic in the area.
The protests began on Thursday night as residents fed up with widespread power outages took to the main road.
On Friday morning, traffic was affected in the area as protesters blocked the road.
By 09:30, the protesters moved to a development area nearby, vowing to block peak-hour traffic if power supply was not restored by 14:00.
Ward 48 councillor Themba Fosi shared in an update to residents that he was aware of the outage in the area.
Fosi said that the Region 4 MMC, Peter Sutton, was invited to address the less than 100 protesters, but wasn’t allowed to speak.
“At this moment, my priority is to restore power to the residents,” Fosi said.
“We have an illegal strike in the city, which, under normal circumstances, this outage would have been sorted long ago if that was not the case.”
Electricity outages have been reported across the metro, with resources being stretched to capacity and reports of intimidation by the striking workers to repair teams.
“To an extent, [also] the very residents who they are supposed to assist,” said Fosi.
“Burning of tyres, closing of roads and affecting people who have nothing to do with the outage is rather unfortunate, and it ultimately doesn’t provide solutions.”
Fosi said that what was needed at this stage is how to engage with the city to mitigate the strike and its ramifications, which is felt by the residents
Councillors in the region say that they are weary to provide information as it could be exposing the few personnel that can assist to danger.
“We do not have teams working, all personnel are on strike,” said Fosi in a message shared to residents.
“Contractors have stopped services due to damage to their property.”
Parts of Centurion, including Heuweloord, Lyttelton, Wierdapark, Kloofsig, and parts of Eldoraigne have been without power for days.
Repair work in the area was delayed due to striking metro workers, who according to officials intimidate teams at repair sites.
By the early hours of Friday morning, August 4, power supply was restored to Wierdapark, while additional widespread outages affected Lyttelton and Kloofsig from 04:00.
Sheradene La Cante, a community member in Heuweloord, said residents were protesting being without power from 16:00 on Tuesday, August 1.
“We are given multiple excuses as to the problem. Each day, it’s something else,” said La Cante.
“Areas that lost power after us are being restored before us and no response from our councillor.”
Protesting residents said they were worried about their safety because power outages leave them vulnerable to criminals – theft and burglaries.
“If we do not have electricity, then the protests will continue and [will be] intensified.”
A list of demands from the Heuweloord Residents Association circulated on groups in the area. It calling for open communication and clarity on issues affecting the area.
“To restore confidence and transparency, we kindly request a sincere update on the [issues affecting the community].”
The list included five demands:
– Explanation for unfulfilled promises they say were made.
– Clarification of misleading information about the specifics of what was wrong with electricity.
– Immediate disconnection of entities connected to the Heuweloord substation.
– Immediate restoration of power.
– Substation commissioning to ensure the infrastructure can meet the demands of the area.
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