THE Westville Ratepayers Association has expressed their concern after transformer failures which led to blackouts right after load-shedding. This after the city had been reintroduced to load-shedding after the break due to the April floods.

The eThekwini Municipality released a statement to explain the difficulties they are facing that are causing the blackouts in most parts of the city. “The Stage 6 load-shedding over the past few days has resulted in interruptions to power supply in major bulk water treatment works and in several strategic installations within the city. This has led to water outages in several areas across the city,” they stated.

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The WRA expressed their frustration over this. “Since the re-introduction of load-shedding, we are witnessing transformer failures. This is due to no maintenance. Many homes across the city were plunged into total darkness, and attempts to log the faults with the City proved to be cumbersome, and the call centres were down. Seems to have been deliberate as the city was obviously unable to deal with the influx of calls.”

The WRA blamed this to no maintenance. “A kick in the teeth is the many street lights that continue to remain on while the country is faced with a major power shortage. Eskom is urging all residents to switch off non-essentials to conserve electricity, but eThekwini is a power of its own. They prefer to let the street light burn all day and night,” stated the organisation.

The association said what is happening is a pain for ratepayers. “It is the ratepayers’ money that they are entrusted with. Funds must be used correctly and responsibly, and it’s clear is that this municipality has shown, without a shadow of doubt, that they cannot be trusted and relied upon,” they said.