Bazley residents entered 2024 in darkness after experiencing a major power outage which lasted days.
The area has dealt with a number of outages recently, however none as significant as this one.
“Amidst the festive season’s joy, we experienced a week-long power outage, causing great distress and unhappiness among residents and visitors alike,” said vice-chairperson of the Bazley Residents Association (BRA), Paul Harvey.
“The indifference and lack of communication and support from Eskom left us in the dark, both literally and metaphorically.”
Most of the town was without electricity since January 1. After reporting the initial issue on New Year’s day, it took two days for Eskom to send someone out. Residents were informed that only skeleton staff were available over the festive season.
The cause of the outage seems to have been from a blown transformer, and on the fifth day, a portion of Bazley residents had their power restored. The rest of the residents only received power supply two days later.
This outage has inconvenienced residents, as well as holidaymakers who were in the area.
“Visitors, particularly families with children, departed prematurely causing the impact on our community’s well-being to go beyond the inconvenience of the outage,” added Harvey.
“Accommodation establishments suffered financial losses as guests checked out early and it’s likely Bazley, as a destination, suffered reputational damage.”
“Additional costs were incurred by many as establishments had to purchase generators and large quantities of fuel, and considerable amounts of food had to be thrown away.”
Besides being frustrated with the overall powerless situation, residents are angry and question why Eskom had no one in place to engage with locals about the situation.
One of the residents stated that it would have been great to get a local Eskom contact that takes these type of situations seriously and keeps the community informed accurately. This person should also be someone that has the authority to escalate matters.
Harvey suggested that Eskom should create an ambassador programme where senior staff adopt areas/towns, with those individuals taking full responsibility and being a single point of contact to coordinate communication and resolution.
“In times of crisis, transparent communication and swift resolution are paramount, underscoring the desperate need for a responsive and co-operative approach from Eskom,” he said.
Eskom was contacted for comment and acknowledged the Bazley power outage. The South Coast Herald – Mid South Coast Edition conveyed the Bazley residents’ message to Eskom on how they can improve communication with residents. Eskom was also questioned as to why they did not provide regular updates to residents during this time.
Eskom’s Media Desk responded: “Eskom runs customer campaigns via SMSes whenever we have outages. Customers need to make sure that their contact details are up to date so that they are able to receive the awareness messages. When the outage is extensive, we also send out media statements and post on social media.”
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