‘City Power is incompetent’ – Highlands North resident

A Highlands North resident has accused the City Power of incompetence.

Sonja Scalco said after her house had a power cut on 17 March, she called the entity to report the issue.

She told the North Eastern Tribune that when City Power workers arrived at her house, they connected a temporary cable that runs from the pylon outside, through her garden and into her garage where the main switch is located.

Scalco said she was told that it would take seven working days to get her main electricity supply fixed. “They were not able to fix this immediately because the cable [the main one] runs underground and we had just experienced heavy rains at the time,” she said. “I understood this and said I would wait for them to return and fix it when the ground had dried out. Four months later, I am still waiting.”

Scalco said she had grandchildren and dogs who play in the garden and was worried that they would get electrocuted.

She added that at some point, the cable almost caught fire and her husband had to reconnect it. “The marks left by the smoke are clearly visible on the garage wall where the main switch is. She said, “What upset me also was that when this happened, we phoned the officials and they came. Instead of fixing the problem, they complemented my husband for reconnecting the cable.”

Scalco said her appliances were not working properly since the temporary cable was installed. “This didn’t worry me at first as I thought they would return to fix it in a week as they promised,” she said.

At the time of going to press, the entity had not responded to this newspaper’s questions regarding Scalco’s matter.

She produced five reference numbers which according to her proved that the municipality’s call centre was inefficient and not helpful. “I have called them five times already and every time they give me a new reference number and eventually put the phone down on me,” said Scalco.

What advice would you give Scalco to address her problem?

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