BETHAL/eMZINONI – Load shedding, exceeding of load demand, damaged or stolen cables, illegal connections, non-payment of electricity bills from businesses and residents, municipality not adhering to payment agreements to Eskom… these are said to have been some of the causes of residents having powerless days and plenty of dark nights.
Residents have been left powerless for most days during the lockdown period. Some for many hours … others for days.
Over the weekend a resident from Palm Park, Mr Schalk Vorster, had a frightening experience when he was in a lift and the electricity went out. He was trapped for two hours.
“I am a grown man, what would have happened if a child, elderly person or someone who has claustrophobia, got stuck in the lift for hours?”
Mr Vorster said that when he came out of the lift, the power was on, but soon afterwards the power went off again which resulted in another two hours without electricity.
Last week, angry eMzinoni residents took to the streets and burnt tyres in front of the fire station.
GMM is currently implementing a programme to remove illegal connections within the areas of eMbalenhle, Bethal and eMzinoni.
Numerous cables were confiscated during the disconnection of illegal electricity on 12 May.
According to GMM’s facebook, the major cause of power outages is the illegal electricity connections which cause the network to overload and trip, because the demand exceeds the supply, meaning there are more people who consume electricity than for which the network was designed.
GMM said Eskom has already issued a notice informing the municipality that all its switching stations are exceeding their Notified Maximum Demand (NMD).
Earlier this year a notice was sent out to residents regarding additional load shedding that was to be implemented by GMM. Since the beginning of the additional load shedding a couple of months ago, Bethal, eMzinoni and eMbalenhle have borne the brunt of power outages.
Bethal residents have turned to social media to voice their anger and frustration towards GMM.
Issues raised are that the time schedule of load shedding was not being kept and that areas are experiencing power outages for hours to days.
Many feel those who are rightfully paying for their services are being punished. Residents say GMM needs to take action against those who are not paying or getting their electricity the “illegal way”.
Ms Mariaan Chamberlain, DA councillor, said Gert Sibande District Municipality will not assist Govan Mbeki Municipality financially, however GSDM will help GMM recover income by cutting off illegal connections, ghost vendors and people not paying.
A request had been made to Eskom to raise the bar of the maximum demand, however due to the municipality’s failure to pay its monthly accounts, this will not be happening.
Ms Chamberlain advised residents that when it is load shedding, to switch off geysers and pool pumps.
“Once the power does come back and all the geysers are on, it takes a lot of electricity. This is when they are trying to switch the electricity back on, but the demand is so high it keeps tripping.”
“It is clear the power situation is out of control.”
A team of concerned residents have join forces and began a WhatsApp group (Bethal Plan of Action) where residents can raise their concerns regarding electricity or any other municipal complaints, such as potholes, overgrown verges and roads.
This group is non-political and no institutions are involved. This is a community group for residents of Bethal and eMzinoni.
“We as a town have decided to not leave matters where it is. We are going to take hands as the community of Bethal and see if we can resolve this together,” said resident Mr Jaap Pretorius.
“This is our town and it is not like it use to be. We need to resolve this in the right way and get straight answers.”
If you want to join this group go to the WhatsApp group link at https://chat.whatsapp.com/IFtnWuLR5kC0wue6lZXGnt
At the time of going to press, reports were received of a man who got stuck in a lift when power went out once again.
Unfortunately the Ridge Times was unable to obtain information regarding this matter.
