Power failure leaves Brackenham residents fuming

RESIDENTS left without electricity in certain parts of Brackenham since Sunday, are counting their losses while the City of uMhlathuze works to restore power after a transformer exploded.

The Zululand Observer has been inundated with calls from frustrated residents from Golden Fern, Frondosa, Blacktree Trail, Felt Fern, Fishtail and Grandiceps streets, all of whom were fuming over the three-day outage and complaining that ‘it happens every time there is a storm’.

‘Whenever it rains there is problem with the transformers and we are left without power for hours, but something must now be done to permanently solve this problem,’ said Bronnet McDonald, a resident in Frondosa.

‘All the food in our fridge and deep-freezer has defrosted and is spoilt, this after having done my monthly groceries during the weekend.

‘This is just unacceptable. Why is our municipality not attending to this matter with urgency? Every second week we are left to suffer without electricity,’ she said.

Resident Rishi Bunseelal said it was frustrating not being able to receive feedback on the situation and he was worried worried about his fish tanks being left without operating pumps.

‘Last year, my television set blew because of the ongoing power outages and our fridges are also being damaged,’ said Bunseelal.

Mr Mohammed from Fish Tail also vented his irritation over the matter saying that he has experienced this problem for the last 20 years and demanded the municipality fix the problem to avoid future inconvenience to the rate payers.

Challenges

City of uMhlathuze municipal spokesperson, Mdu Ncalane said electricians had been faced with new challenges on a daily basis while working on resolving the matter and have even engaged an external contractor to assist in speeding up the power restoration in Brackenham.

‘We humbly apologise to all affected residents and local institutions such as schools, religious organisations and businesses.

‘A major challenge is the whole settlement was designed without considering the electricity maintenance and repairs, and the poles and cables run through back yards and in between the houses.

‘The city inherited this design from the previous administration, with an aging infrastructure.

‘The fixing of this problem is a temporary measure as the city has to relocate all the electricity poles and cables along the road for easy access. We have reached a point where maintenance is not possible.

‘This has been budgetted for in this financial year,’ Ncalane said.

The city expected power to be restored by Wednesday evening.