UPDATE: West of Centurion electricity woes addressed
Residents west of Centurion met on Thursday to discuss ongoing electricity outages.
Residents west of Centurion met on Thursday to discuss ongoing electricity outages.
The residents called on the Tshwane metro to address the problem “immediately” and vowed to take to the streets should the matter not be addressed.
Residents of Raslouw, Wierda Park, Eldoraigne, Erasmia, Laudium and surrounding areas attended the meeting convened by an interim committee of residents.
Community activist, Yusuf Abramjee said residents have “had enough of the poor service delivery from the metro”.
“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise: If you don’t solve our power problems, we will intensify mass action.”
Other residents said the problem had been ongoing for almost two years.
READ MORE: Centurion residents riled by ongoing power cuts
“There has been over 40 power outages over recent months alone. This month, our electricity went off seven times,” said a community representative Amoré Jooste.
Residents also complained about council officials not responding to the outage crisis, losses being suffered because of the power outages and poor communication.
Environment and agriculture management MMC Danna Wannenburg and four local ward councillors attended the meeting.
“We are aware of the problems and we are going to work on them because service delivery is important to us,” Wannenburg said.
“We pay attention to communities’ complaints.”
He said a collaboration between the metro and residents was important.
“That is why we also attended the meeting with them to listen to their problems,” he said.
During the meeting, the metro listed several problems that led to the outages, including lightning, theft and vandalism, but said some measures were to be taken including:
– Introducing an online monitoring system at sub stations. A tender has already gone out. This, they say, will assist to stop theft and vandalism. In addition, physical security at sub-stations will be beefed-up.
READ MORE: West of Centurion residents to meet over Tshwane power cuts
– Plans are underway to convert the network from overhead to underground cables. This will be gradual and funds will be allocated next year.
– Copper cables will be replaced with aluminium cables to avoid cable theft.
– Tree cutting operations will start immediately. This will include checking the tension on the lines.
The metro said it noted the residents’ concerns about poor resources and allegations that delays in restoring power were because officials wanted to claim overtime.
The alleged inefficiency of the “switching teams” will be looked at immediately also.
Residents invited Tshwane utility services MMC Abel Tau to a follow-up meeting.
Abramjee said the meeting “was the first of a series of engagements with the city in an attempt to resolve the power problems. We remain confident we can solve these issues without having to take to the streets again”.
Wannenburg said he remained confident that the problem would be resolved as a matter of urgency.
On Tuesday, residents picketed after being without power for almost 20 hours.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
