Dal Fouche residents left stranded without power
Residents allege they were told by various sources the reason the problem was not fixed on Friday evening is because of a dispute between the metro and an electrical technical team regarding the payment of overtime.
Residents in parts of Dal Fouche endured a hellish weekend without power from last Friday evening to Monday morning.
The power outage began at 6pm and left residents in the dark.
Residents could not get a clear answer from the metro as to what the cause of the outage was and when power would be restored.
Vonéy Coertzen says getting hold of the metro and ward councillors was a nightmare.
Coertzen says when they eventually got hold of the metro, they were told someone would attend to the problem, but nobody arrived.
Gilbert Coertzen says in Dal Fouche they have faced several power interruptions over the past few months.
“Additionally, when we don’t have electricity, we don’t have water.
Also read:Â Selection Park and Pollak Park without power
“When the electricity eventually came back on, we had very low water pressure.
“It’s not right to leave a suburb without power for three days,” he says.
For Johan van der Walt, the lack of power was life threatening as he suffers from a respiratory illness.
“I am on a Cpap machine and oxygen daily and could not use them without power.
“This is not good for my health.
“They kept lying to us the whole weekend, with different stories from everyone and that it was a huge problem and they were trying to get some standby units out to replace the cable.
“On Monday morning, it took them less than half an hour to fix the problem, and Dal Fouche had to sit in the dark the entire weekend.
“This is not on, as we are paying customers of a service we do not receive from the municipality,” says van der Walt.
He says he would like the following questions answered by the metro:
• Who is going to pay for our spoilt food in the fridges and deep freezers?
• What would happen if my health got worse due to a lack of electricity to power the machines that help me breathe?
• What are we paying for because it can’t be for service, as there is none?
• Why did it take them so little time on Monday to fix the problem, and why could this not be done on Friday?
Residents allege they were told by various sources the reason the problem was not fixed on Friday evening is because of a dispute between the metro and an electrical technical team regarding the payment of overtime.
Also read:Â New Era substation on fire
Shadow councilllor Lorna Beharie echoed residents’ claims and says even though residents reported the issue immediately, no help was forthcoming as the standby electrical technical team had taken a solidarity stance that they would not respond to any electrical issues after hours as they are not paid overtime.
“The issue was escalated to the officials, area managers, divisional head, chief engineer and in sheer desperation I called Tiisetso Nketle (MMC of Water, Sanitation and Energy) Sunday afternoon.
“She promised to speak to the departmental head and try and resolve the issue.
“By 5pm on Sunday, I had to advise the residents that no one was coming to find out what the fault was or even attempt to fix it and they had to prepare for another night with no electricity.
“This is not acceptable.
“Internal ineptness cannot result in rate-paying citizens having to bear the brunt of a standoff between technicians and the metro.
“No other resident in Ekurhuleni should have to endure another evening in the dark because of an unresolved overtime issue.
“This is mismanagement of funds allocated to the department and these internal issues need to be resolved immediately,” says Beharie.
The metro failed to respond to questions regarding the power outage and the alleged dispute between the metro and its employees regarding overtime.
Follow us on our social media platforms:
