The persistent power outages that led a group of Raslouw residents to complain at the beginning of the year have continued unabated, the group has said.
Electricity Outages Action Group chairman Eddie Neethling said it appeared that none of the issues previously highlighted had been addressed.
“We are still experiencing frequent outages,” he said this week.
ALSO READ: Raslouw residents outraged by power outages
“There appears to have been a slight improvement as the large storm from Friday did not cause the power to trip. However, we are still seeing outages affecting businesses and causing problems for residents.”
Neethling, with other residents in the area, approached Rekord with their concerns over power outages in January.
This after the so-called “outage outrage group” had approached the Tshwane metro in January last year to highlight the issues.
These included pointing out a dire need of general maintenance and upgrading of the power grid.
One particular issue raised in letters sent to the metro was the lack of regular tree pruning near power lines.
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It appears as though only certain trees in the area are being pruned by the metro.
“And when they are pruned it is a few centimetres from the power lines,” said Neethling.
He said yet another letter had been sent to the metro to appeal to new mayor Stevens Mokgalapa to assist residents.
“We are trying to meet with him to highlight the issues and see if he can assist us to find workable solutions to the problem. We have received a notice of receipt but no further response.”
The metro previously said it was struggling to catch up to a five-year infrastructure backlog and implementation of several projects, which would take years to complete.
The metro has budgeted R152-million to upgrade existing substations in the current financial year
The construction of bulk electricity infrastructure, including transformers and substations, was being addressed in a three-year construction plan.
The backlog, however, remained a problem.
ALSO READ: NOTICE: Raslouw power outages due to ‘essential’ upgrades
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