A vandalised transformer on Loots Road left residents in the dark for many days.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena has extended his apology to the affected residents and customers in Blairgowrie for the power supply interruption.
He added that they are currently sourcing a new transformer to replace the vandalised one. “Once it is delivered, our dedicated team will commence with the replacement process to restore power supply to affected customers.
“We kindly request for patience during this process and we extend our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.”
Resident Elinor Bodinger explained that she is very frustrated as the city has no spare parts and no contingency plans to facilitate a back-up power for residents.
“It goes without saying that living without electricity for five days is removing our basic rights – no business can conduct itself, no household can operate and we won’t even go into the security risks.”
She explained that she has lost things like money, food, and livelihood because of this situation.
“Expect them to have a contingency plan – spare parts or a temporary generator to power the streets affected until they find the parts.”
Ward 102 councillor Lucinda Harman said having no power for five to six days is serious. Residents lost all produce in fridges and freezers. Their inverters and appliances after day one couldn’t function. A resident who uses an apnoea machine was at risk and businesses cannot function or operate.
“The stress, inconvenience and frustration is unbearable. It is very concerning as a councillor that my residents get put through this. I take the calls from very distressed residents.”
Asked how often these incidents happen in her ward, she said that too often. “In one week, they had an area outage due to Bordeaux sub post load-shedding. We had four additional outages: a fire at Nola circle sub, Conrad Drive outage from Blairgowrie sub, Barkston Drive outage due to cable damage from tree felling.”
City Power continues to urge the local communities and Randburg businesses to participate in its community partnership programme on electricity network infrastructure security to protect it in order to minimise power outages.
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