Residents of Albertina Sisulu Road (previously Lola Street) and surrounds were stuck without power for about 17 hours before City Power jumped in to fix it.
According to resident Chris Meintjies the area lost power at around 3am yesterday (Wednesday 22 July). When he complained to the Record, they were already without power for 12 hours.
Meintjies complained that he spent five hours on the phone during the day trying to get through to City Power and Joburg Connect but to no avail. By 3pm he had not had a reference number and according to him, the issue had not yet been logged.
“The automatic prompt on the phone keeps reminding you that you can also log your issue via the internet, but how, without electricity?” he asked helplessly.
The Record spoke to City Power Roodepoort area manager Noel Maso just after 3pm at which time he said “we are not even aware of an electricity problem in Florida”.
Maso confirmed it had not yet been logged but promised to enquire from the depot and send a team out, if one wasn’t dispatched already.
Just after 7pm, when residents already had suffered 17 hours without power, did City Power workmen show up at the site, Meintjies confirmed.
“They inspected the area and had to make a return trip to the depot before fixing the situation,” Meintjies told the Record this morning (Thursday 23 July).
“When the power came back on it was very limited and we could not even boil a kettle, so my wife and I went to bed.
City Power spokesperson Sol Masolo was not available for comment this morning but senior communication officer Sydney Mphahlele promised feedback on what the technical issue was within a few hours.
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