For Ros Habgood, the prolonged power outage at the Talana Museum complex has meant changing menus, relying on a generator and having “a ton of faith” that the situation will soon improve.

Habgood, who runs Miner’s Rest restaurant, said the irony was that the power cut had coincided with an upsurge in tourism, with three busloads of British tourists stopping for lunch since the electricity was disconnected.

“I’m just thankful to dear friend Ranjith for giving us the use of his generator, which has helped tremendously. While we cook largely on gas, we have had to change our menu to accommodate our visitors,” she said.

She admitted the past month had been stressful.

Juggling menus

“At our monthly men’s breakfast, we swapped toast for buns – none of the guys complained. For now, we are going forward in faith and with our best smiles.”

The outage is particularly frustrating during September, Heritage Month, when school groups and other visitors traditionally visit the museum to experience the area’s history and heritage.

Eskom disconnected electricity to the complex about a month ago after Endumeni Municipality’s account fell into arrears of more than R36,000.

The museum, Miner’s Rest and the adjacent Kwa Kunje traditional village have remained without electricity despite efforts by Museum Board of Trustees chairperson Patricia Strauss to lobby provincial government for assistance.

Executive Committee councillor Saleem Abdool, who was also asked to intervene, said he had spoken to Eskom officials, who told him they required a letter of commitment from the municipality confirming that the arrears would be paid.

“Unfortunately, this has not happened. There has been a lot of upheaval at the municipality, with the province appointing a technical expert to oversee financial and other issues. I’m hopeful that this will happen before the end of the month,” Abdool said.

The outage has also raised security concerns.

Board of Trustees treasurer and former curator Pam McFadden said armed men fired shots at security officers at the museum last week.

“Details are sketchy, but without any security lights, the entire complex is in total darkness after sunset. No one was hurt, but we understand that one of the water tanks was hit by a stray bullet,” she said.

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