Alfred and Connor street employees and employers reported for duty as usual last Tuesday and were met by darkness. Unable to go about business as usual, locals were puzzled about the cause of the random power cut. According to some business people, last Tuesday was not the first power cut they had experienced.
“All we see is the area under the pavements being dug up; the municipal workers on site don’t answer me when I enquire why we have no electricity,” explained a fed-up Connor Street business woman. She further said that these cuts catch her off-guard.
“During all these days of power cuts, I still have to make rent money, pay for rates and my workers, purchase stock and not to mention how it affects my customers. How do I make up these expenses? The electricity cuts hampers me from providing for my family with the profit I could be making,” said the business woman.
Many of the affected business and households are unprepared for the disruptions caused by the power cuts. Businesses people say they would appreciate being given proper notice of a reasonable power cut period.
When inquiring from the municipality about the cause of the on-going cuts and when it can be expected to be fixed, here’s what they had to say:
“The problem started with damage to the mini-station in Alfred Street. This was replaced with another mini-substation with incorrect specs, resulting in the ring feed being disconnected.
“The fault that occurred about a week ago was due to damage to the existing cable, this was repaired however the duration was prolonged due to the incomplete ring feed,” said Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality‘s Communications Manager Sphelele Zikalala.
The damage being referred to was caused when a truck knocked into the mini-station in Alfred Street, which set it on fire early in February this year.
READ THE STORY HERE: Residents criticise emergency services’ response time at substation explosion
She further added that the fault, which occurred last Wednesday, was due to theft on the same circuit, but at a different location.
“The work being done at the lower end of Connor and Alfred streets is to strengthen the circuit and prevent down time. The changeover was done between 9am and 5pm.
“Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that there will be no interruptions in the supply of electricity, however we are doing everything we can to ensure that the interruptions are minimised,” explained Ms Zikalala.
With that said, some lower Connor and Alfred street businesses received a notice last Tuesday, stating that the eight-hour long interruption in the electricity supply was to carry out essential work on mains. Yet, according Ms Zikalala, the interruption was ‘due to theft on the same circuit but at a different location.’
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