City Power is unable to restore electricity for the residents of the Norwood Police Barracks because the building belongs to the provincial government and not the municipality.
This according to Ward 73 councillor Eleanor Huggett who said the power utility had no permission to repair the electrical fault in the building because of jurisdiction issues.
Residents of the barracks have been without electricity and water for about three weeks staged a protest outside the Norwood Police Station on 8 December. They blocked Paterson Road with burning tyres, trees and rocks to show their frustration.
Hugget said officials from the City Power were called to restore power to the building but were sent away because the building was managed by the Gauteng Provincial Government. She added that she was not aware who denied them access but said it was most probably because of legal and insurance issues.
Read: SIU to probe City Power managers after allegations of bogus call-outs emerge
“City Power went there on Friday at my request to try and assist and were sent away and told they were not allowed to touch the meters,” said Huggett.
“The flats fall under the Gauteng Provincial Government which is under the ANC-led government, so Joburg officials have no jurisdiction. I have requested the mayor [Herman Mashaba] to try and intervene.”
Huggett said she had visited the building and the situation was unbearable. “The residents living in the flats are in dire straits and there are children and elderly people living there. This is a human rights abuse.
“It’s very unfortunate and this has to be sorted out. This is completely unnecessary but I have managed to organise a water tanker to enable residents’ access to water.”
Sharon Mtshali, a resident of the barracks, said they were informed by Gauteng Department of Public Works that there were no funds to improve their dire living conditions. “We are really not happy with how things in this building are running,” said Mtshali.
Details: Eleanor Huggett 071 785 8086
