Residents and businesses throughout Germiston have been battling power outages in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, a large power failure hit the Germiston CBD, Delville, parts of Wadeville, Germiston South, Elsburg and Tedstoneville, to name a few suburbs.
On Thursday, the power was still off in Tedstoneville and some people in Fishers’ Hill were left without electricity.
A Germiston South resident told the GCN that they have experienced nine power outages in the past month.
He said the outages last for hours on end and you can never get any response from the metro.
Werner Le Hanie, from Elsburg, said the latest power outage was about the eighth the suburb had suffered in the last three weeks.
“The metro must improve their service,” he said.
“You cannot get through to the call taking centre and, if you try to call the 999 numbers, they are never answered.”
Nicholas Bruce, a Georgetown resident, said their area has been experiencing power outages, which last for no less than six hours at a time, since mid-March.
The outages occur at least four times a week.
Pasi Mubaiwa, a resident of Tedstoneville, told the GCN that the power went off on Wednesday and, by 4pm on Thursday, had still not been restored.
“It is clear to me that these power cuts are being stage managed, as the adjacent industrial areas and the rail network do not have power cuts at all,” Mubaiwa said.
“We need an explanation as to why power loss is recurrent.
“Does the mayor also get such power cuts at his home, wherever it is?”
The GCN contacted the metro to find out why residents in Germiston were experiencing so many power outages.
Unfortunately, we did not receive satisfactory answers to all our questions.
The metro’s department of communications and brand management said: “The power failure on Wednesday was due to a cable fault.
“Tedstoneville was off for longer, as it took longer to locate, repair and test the affected cable in the area.
“The many power outages over the past few weeks can be attributed to the recent heavy rains causing numerous problems on the electricity network.
“Maintenance of the electricity infrastructure is being done.”
