It has been five months (and counting) since businesses on Deysel Road had electricity. Stuart Banks, who runs a spares shop on Deysel Road said they had reached a point of desperation.
“The power went off mid-November and it hasn’t been back ever since. City Power laid new cables along the street and put up a new substation, but they haven’t been powered. I am currently using two generators; one to power the tools, and the other one runs on and off to charge the batteries. But we are desperate to have power back; we can’t keep operating like this. We don’t know what to do.”
In January this year, Dave Cain who also runs a business in the area shared a similar story about barely operating at full capacity due to the prolonged power interruption. Cain said he spent around R300 a day to keep his generator running which only allowed him to do 10% of his workload. “Since we spoke, we still haven’t had electricity. We are barely making it,” he explained.
Many businesses stand bare on the street, barely operating or completely shut down because of the lack of power and subsequent loss of income.
“We use generators every day; we have been since we first lost power in November. Our businesses are suffering because of the fuel costs and the safety of my premises. This area is pitch black at night as there isn’t sufficient lighting,” Banks said.
Jessy Aghamobi who owns a spaza shop in the area said it had become extremely expensive to keep her shop running. “I am now even eating my stock because it will go bad. I have no way of buying more with little to no income.” Aghamobi also lives on the premises with her husband and two kids, and said she only uses the generator for her kids to do their homework because it is so expensive.
Ward 97 councillor Jacques Hoon said, “I have had no satisfactory response from City Power. I was told I would receive a written submission on the progress made to date. I hope to have feedback on the matter shortly.”
City Power did not respond to an email sent to them regarding the matter.
