The lack of communication by the City of Ekurhuleni during a nine-hour power outage in several suburbs on Friday again had residents fuming.
Van Riebeeck Park, Birchleigh, Terenure and Birch Acres had been without power for nine hours due to upgrades at the Van Riebeeck Park substation.
When Kempton Express contacted metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe at 2.30pm, he said he “would revert back”. Shortly before 6pm he confirmed power had been restored to all affected suburbs.
According to ward councillor Jaco Terblanche a cable fault had caused the outage.
Councillor Tracey Lourenco said power surges plagued Birch Acres residents during the day and she could get no answers from engineers. She said power surged to 380 Volts from 220 Volts.
According to her the equipment of several residents had been blown.
At 5.10pm a resident who visited the Van Riebeeck Park substation said it was “quite a circus down there”.
He later commented: “Why does it take a person to go down there to witness the incompetence and total lack of productivity and to have an argument with one of the senior officials there in order to get somewhere.”
