The Lindhaven community has run out of patience since they have been without power for most of the past few days.
According to Ward 71 councillor, René Benjamin this area has only had one day of power since Saturday, August 28. This is due to attempted cable theft and nothing being done to safeguard the infrastructure.
“The problem is not necessarily that City Power isn’t fixing anything, but rather their lack of communication. How do they expect me to give feedback to the residents – their clients – if they aren’t responding to my queries and escalations?” she said.
According to residents the electricity went off during the early hours of Saturday, August 28 and was only restored again the following day around 19:00. It went off again on Tuesday morning, August 31 and hasn’t been restored as of yet (Wednesday afternoon, September 1).
René added that at some point she has had to wait more than 15 hours to get a response from City Power representatives, which is unacceptable.
“How can the residents plan if they don’t know what’s going on? How can I inform the residents if City Power doesn’t talk to us, the ward councillors? They have to provide me with a response of substance so the residents can plan accordingly. If they don’t respond after four, five or six hours, I just can’t be polite anymore,” she said.
After having struggled with City Power for the past few days, René invited all affected residents as well City Power representatives to the corner of South and Rothchild Roads on Wednesday, September 1, in efforts to address the issue. City Power officials, however, failed to attend the gathering.
Melannie Wernich from Twinkle Toes Day Care also expressed her frustration as they are taking care of infants and children up until the age of six.
“We have babies that need their bottles. Because we don’t know what the electricity status is, it’s difficult to plan ahead. It’s chaos each time as we never know when to prepare for something like this,” Melannie explained.
Another concerned resident, Diaana Loots said that it’s difficult for her family to get by each time the electricity goes out.
“My husband is the only breadwinner in the house so it’s tough to get by as it is. Now we have to replace everything in the fridge that has gone off because the power was out. We also have to get takeaways on a regular basis which is another costly expense. My husband works 12 hours a day so when he’s dirty, he can’t even take a bath. We are law-abiding citizens who pay our rates and taxes, and this is the service we receive?” she said.
René remains in contact with City Power officials and will keep the residents up to date whenever she receives any information. The Record has made contact with City Power and is awaiting comment.
