Elandsfontein residents demand answers amid two-week power outage

Residents of Elandsfontein marched to the electricity depot in Junction Road, Germiston, demanding answers from officials following their 14-day power outage.

The following streets are without power: Eland, Hattingh, Olifant, and Rooikat streets.

The residents have again been plunged into darkness following the recent cold weather.

As of May 16 some community members had been without power for 14 days.

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Ward 92 Clr Kade Guerreiro said multiple issues are affecting the system, which is on the verge of total collapse in the community.

“While we are fully aware of the mass overloading, the mass bypassed meters and hundreds of illegal connections, the city seems to be dragging its feet over finding long-term solutions to fixing Elandsfontein,” said Guerreiro.

“Despite my efforts for 14 days and counting, I am still not getting help from officials. I have gone from office to office. I have made over 300 calls, countless SMS, WhatsApp, and depot stops, and still, I get zero communication and little help over such.

“Please, mayor, the people of Elandsfontein are pleading and are desperate for help. I was at the depot with some residents, and all explained the loss from food to petrol for generators to oxygen machines,” said Guerreiro.

“Five of our substations have been affected. Two exploded, and three of the five used to be new.

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“The pattern is known. Winter is fast approaching, and usage is going to increase. The system is going to be overloaded,” said Guerreiro.

Caroline Hadzhi, an Elandsfontein resident, claimed the officials refused to help them.

“They said they were attending a meeting but never showed up. We have children who need to stay warm during this cold weather,” Hadzi explained.

“Our food has gone rotten in the refrigerators. It’s now a waste of money because I have to pay extra to obtain gas and buy additional food, and takeaways.

“Some people need their oxygen machines to keep on working and store medication in the refrigerators,” said Hadzhi.

Another resident, Phumlani Zulu, stated that the troubles in Elandsfontein are worsening as the municipality continues to ignore their problems.

ALSO READ: Power outage interrupts water supply in Germiston

“The waste, illegal dumping, illegal electricity connections and deteriorating roads, Elandsfontein is falling apart,” said Zulu.

“Sewage at Dasi Street has got worse. We find ourselves flooded and living in what now looks like a swamp. We have to pay private people to drain out our sewage so we can live in better conditions.

“We had a cable fault recently. We called the city, but they did not come. We eventually called a private person to fix it,” said Zulu.

While residents waited for officials to address them, another resident from Tedstoneville came after being without electricity for four days.

The GCN has sent a request for comment to the City of Ekurhuleni media team, requesting comment by May 16 at 14:00.
At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.