Three smallholdings back on the grid following eight-day outage
Residents of Fourth Road believe more could have been done to resolve an eight-day power outage.
Following an eight-day outage due to cable theft, three residences of Van Ryn Small Holdings are finally reconnected to the electricity grid.
On February 3, following countless calls to the Ekurhuleni call centre, the officials replaced a damaged cable with an aluminium substitute, which is not as profitable as its copper counterpart.
According to a resident of Fourth Road, Aiden Grant, cable theft is rife throughout the area, especially during load-shedding.
“In December, the four-core cable, providing power to our homes, was stolen. The thieves merely cut it off at the base,” she said.
“Given the time of the year and despite numerous calls to the city, we had no option but to call on the services of an independent contractor to repair the damage. It cost us R12 500 – money that we do not have to repair the cable for a second time.”
Jana Fourie, whose property was affected by the recent outage, says not only was her family’s home left in darkness, but the outage further led to taps running dry as a pump for their borehole could not run.
“We were left boiling swimming pool water to be able to bath,” said Jana.
“My tenant, who is pregnant, terminated her lease agreement as she could no longer cope with living without electricity.
“This additional loss in income, partnered with the increased costs for gas and a fridge full of rotting food, is unacceptable.”
The residents further said they feel overlooked due to the length of time to get the matter resolved, despite Ward 24 Clr Nicola da Silva’s requests that their complaints be escalated.
“I was made aware of the situation and escalated the matter with the electricity department. Unfortunately, the matter was not prioritised,” Da Silva said.
“I urge residents, especially in situations like this, to send me daily updates for I to apply pressure on the relevant departments.
“Communication is key in ensuring that service delivery matters are attended to.”
At the time of publication, no comment had been received from the city regarding the length of time it took to reconnect these homes.
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