BETHAL – As Bethal’s lack of electricity supply continues, all residents want to know is when their supply will go back to normal – or at least for Govan Mbeki Municipality to stick to additional load-shedding scheduled times.
“They never stick to the schedules they provide. We can be without power for hours on end, even after the scheduled times,” said an angry resident.
Besides the schedules, GMM’s call centre has raised many eyebrows and frustrations and residents have been questioning the competence of the call centre’s employees due to poor communication.
“When I tried calling the centre the lines were congested,” said Ms Lucia MacFarlane.
Her son studies online line with the University of Pretoria.
At the time of speaking to Ms MacFarlane, they had been without electricity for 26 hours.
“My son has missed numerous online sessions because of no electricity. It is a hassle to have to catch up on work that he has missed,” said Ms MacFarlane.
“It is frustrating for him because he needs to do his practicals and communication online.”
Ms MacFarlane cannot afford a generator.
“It is getting too much, appliances are breaking and have to be replaced.
“There are nights we don’t even eat because we can’t use our stoves, let alone do the basic chores such as laundry.”
Mr Hennie Jordaan, chairman and maintenance manager for Silwerjare Old Age Home explained their challenges when it comes to catering food for the elderly as well as keeping cold foods and frozen foods cold.
“We have lost computers, TV’s, electrical appliances and fridges because of the continuous on and off of electricity. We had to even discard food because it had been spoilt,” said Mr Jordaan.
“When we phone the call centre all they can say is it is load-shedding. How can we have load-shedding for 18 hours?” asked Ms Christa Botha, who is a nurse at Silwerjare.
“Our elderly depend on us to have a proper running facility,” said Ms Botha.
Silwerjare does not have a generator to keep the facility running during load-shedding, let alone fill it up with diesel or petrol.
“We have many elderly who live below the breadline. We only have a little help from the state. We just don’t have the money for added expenses,” said Mr Jordaan.
He had also highlighted water pressure is extremely low when there is load-shedding.
“Besides having them wrap themselves in layers of blankets, there is no means or way for us elderly to keep warm. We can’t even use a hot water bottle because we can’t boil water,” said a resident.
One of the biggest concerns is when residents need to use the toilet during the night and having to trail down hallways or passages in complete darkness.
“In a week we had to assist five residents who had fallen in the dark. They fall in the passages because they can’t see where they are going,” said a committee member.
One resident is still recovering in hospital after a nasty fall.
“We can’t even use our emergency intercom because this runs on electricity.”
There is an emergency cellphone, but it can only run so long before having to recharge again.
Sterilising medical equipment and handing out medicine is just as big of a challenge.
“I can’t treat wounds because my sterilisation lamp works on electricity,” said Ms Botha.
Security is also a huge concern when there is no electricity.
“We are situated in an area of Bethal that is known for many burglaries and criminal activity, yet we can’t even secure our people’s safety on the premises with our electric fencing because we have no power,” said Mr Jordaan.
Ms Marthie van der Walt, the facility coordinator at Palm-Oord, said that by 16:00 the facility halls are dark.
“For 30 hours we did not have electricity when I phoned the municipal manager I was told it is Eskom.
“I then phoned the GMM call centre and they said it is the new service provider working on lines,” said Ms Van der Walt.
She has elderly patients who depend on 24-hour oxygen.
“I have a responsibility towards these people to ensure they have the best treatment in our facility.
“We have a running generator which cost us R800 to fill up for six hours of continuous running.
“Palm-Oord is not in the same financial place it was a few years ago. We just don’t have the money for extra expenses,” said Ms Van der Walt.
The facility has since had to replace a geyser which at the time of the interview it was still not known if the geyser was working or installed properly because there has just been no power long enough to fill the geyser and produce hot water.
“We can’t even charge our rechargeable lights.
“We still pay, on time, for full services yet we are not getting these services. I just don’t understand, we are using less electricity yet we receive a larger bill at the end of the month? It is a disgrace,” said Ms Van der Walt.
