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My life depends on electricity

When there is no electricity in her area, Caroline Motshabi Khambule (49) from Sarafina, Ikageng is one of the people who suffer the most.

When there is no electricity in her area, Caroline Motshabi Khambule (49) from Sarafina, Ikageng is one of the people who suffer the most.

After falling gravely ill in 2018, Caroline was diagnosed with numerous illnesses that left her fully dependent on a home oxygen machine.

Before that, she was an active person who worked as an office administrator and could climb flights of stairs every day. Today, all that is a distant memory.

All Caroline holds onto is being positive and taking it one day at a time. But that is often challenged by the regular power outages in her area.

“Whenever the electricity goes out, my anxiety shoots through the roof,” she says.

Every now and again, there is a power outage in Caroline’s area and every time it rains or there are strong winds, Caroline says the situation gets worse. They are often left wondering when the power will return.

Under such circumstances, she has no choice but to use her 200-lt oxygen cylinder, which only lasts for about two to three hours if she uses it sparingly.

But although she has that alternative, every bit of it has to be used wisely because she often has to wait for a month before it gets refilled due to the extremely high demand.

“When I use the cylinder, I set it lower than I am supposed to because the power is sometimes only restored the following day,” she explains.

Alternatively, Caroline has to be rushed to her family home which is about 10 kilometres away, so she can plug the machine in.

Caroline, who now only has the strength to bathe herself every day, says she has contacted the municipality about the issue numerous times.

“I have asked for help repeatedly but my pleas seem to fall on deaf ears,” she says.

I even lodged a complaint on their app a month ago. Every time I check the status, it is still the way I left it, yet they created the app.”

Caroline adds that the issue seems to mainly affect their area as the lights in the surrounding areas are still on whenever theirs go out.

“People came to assess the situation and concluded that the wires were faulty. That was the last I heard from them,” she says. “I can’t live like this. We need stable electricity; my life depends on it.”

The Herald has asked the municipality for comment but none was forthcoming in time for print.

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