The northern suburbs of Roodepoort have been plagued with widespread, unplanned electricity outages for nearly two months.
Frequent outages at different City Power substations and switching stations are fast becoming the norm, and fed-up residents are up in arms.
One resident of Weltevreden Park decided to take matters into his own hands. Johann Marx, out of desperation with this untenable situation, decided to take legal action by establishing a class-action lawsuit against City Power and the City of Johannesburg.
“It seems the JG Strydom Switching Station is undergoing repairs more than it works,” a frustrated Marx said. “We are paying through our noses for a service that we are not receiving, and it has to stop.”
Marx said he had to throw away thousands of rands worth of food as it rotted in the fridge because of the frequent power outages.
“Every week from around Thursday the problems start. The electricity goes off and then it is often days before we have electricity again.
“City Power is not fulfilling its mandate to provide electricity and it is costing residents thousands, not to mention the havoc it is causing in the economy. As residents, it is time we stand together and oust the underperforming entities and appoint our own, capable contractors to service and maintain infrastructure in our neighbourhoods.”
According to Marx, residents could easily afford highly capable contractors to service and maintain the local infrastructure with the amount of money paid to the entity every month.
“There are more than a thousand houses just in Weltevreden Park. That does not include residential complexes. They get a small fortune from Weltevreden Park residents alone every month. That money is not used to service and maintain our local infrastructure. I intend to change that.”
Marx has called on residents, resident associations, and other community structures to join him in funding the planned legal action against CoJ.
The Roodepoort Northsider has been in touch with City Power to discuss Marx’s lawsuit and other pressing matters in an upcoming edition.
If you would like to join Marx in his quest, you can contact him via email at roofsure62@gmail.com.
