Pax Mentis Academy without power for a week

Pax Mentis Academy in Olienhout Street, Birchleigh, was left without power for six days.

On July 3, Belinda Sternberg founder and owner of Pax Mentis Academy told the Kempton Express that the power supply had been the most challenging she had ever had.

“The school consists of 25 children who are autistic, deaf, have Cerebral Palsy and Down’s syndrome.

“The children have sensory problems so the running of a generator and the use of gas stoves is not good for them at all,” she added.

According to Sternberg, the outage occurred on June 27 when contractors with the City of Ekurhuleni damaged a cable during nearby construction.

She said two of the children in her care were hospitalised during this time of the outage.

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“I am aware that we have load-shedding and water shortages but these power outages are the worst. Especially if you are like me and are the only one affected,” she added.

Tshepiso Kubjane, who is an assistant at the academy, said it had been a difficult week at the school.

“The children are used to warm cooked meals. During the outage, parents had to send food to school for the children. Some of the children are also not used to eating certain foods.”

Freedom Front Plus PR Clr Jean Kriek told the Kempton Express that he received a photograph of the school from three different residents informing him that the Academy had been without energy for six days.

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“I drove through to investigate, called the energy department on sight and received a commitment from them that they will repair the cables the same day (July 3).”

In the early afternoon on July 3, a private contractor was brought in by Ekurhuleni to repair the fault.

“The department needs to implement a system that controls technicians’ overtime, spread it over the month instead of racking up overtime within the first weekend of the month,” he added.

“The Kempton Park electrical network is over 70 years old. After the 66kV network fix, we will have to start replacing the medium voltage network to ensure reliable energy current. Private contractors cost more than their own CoE technicians.”

Kriek said the department needs to do better and he will take up the matter with the HOD and council from his side.

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When contacted last week, Ward 15 Clr Amanda Davison confirmed that she was aware of the situation.

She said that she had been busy with arrangements with the relevant department to resolve the matter but she never received any response from them.

“I had reported the matter to the energy department numerous times and I had not received any response from them.

“As the councillor for the ward it is very frustrating that I sometimes fail to help the community, because of the lack of communication from the municipality,” she said.

Davison pleaded with the municipality to communicate better in assisting the community instead of leaving them in the dark.
Sternberg confirmed that the electricity supply to her property had been restored on the afternoon of July 3.