Persistent power outages disrupt life in east suburbs

Residents of Moreleta Park and Garsfontein are grappling with a wave of recurring power outages, plunging them into darkness again.

Parts of the two east suburbs have been hit by persistent water and power outages since the start of the year, leaving ratepayers reeling.

Residents reported that the power outages started on Saturday morning with no alert.

Ward 47 councillor Lida Erasmus said Moreleta Park residents have now been without power for over 28 hours and there seems to be no urgency from the city to get the power restored.

“Ward councillors in wards 47 and 91 have been receiving vague and contradictory feedback messages, only to learn on the night of March 4, that the testing team had not even attended to the issue or been out to trace the fault for repairs to start.”

She claimed that there are rumours of cable theft being the cause of the power outages but the officials still do not know the cause since nothing had been done to test cables and address the outage yet.

Erasmus said residents are losing food in fridges and those on oxygen or other medical devices requiring power, are suffering as the cost of renting batteries is extremely high.

“Businesses cannot function but there seems to be no will to get the issue resolved. The communities are losing trust in the ability of the city to resolve service delivery issues,” Erasmus said.

She added that this is unacceptable and “our residents deserve better”.

“I will continue to fight for my residents and to hold the current administration accountable for real solutions to the service delivery crisis that is unfolding in the city.”

Mariette Swanepoel, a Garsfontein resident, said it is very difficult to live in the area.

“Over the weekend we had no power… it is impossible to live like this. It’s either no water or no power. Tshwane must buy my house so I can relocate and live somewhere else.”

Swanepoel said she is frustrated by the experience of having no water or power every week.

“We call on Tshwane to maintain infrastructure, replace water pipes, as well as communicate with ratepayers so they can plan accordingly.”

On Wednesday Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya said the metro is taking action to address power outages across multiple regions.

Moya said Tshwane is actively responding to ongoing power outages affecting several areas.

She said over the next 12 hours, efforts will be intensified to restore supply as swiftly as possible.

“These outages have been largely caused by cable faults, exacerbated by recent heavy rainfall, resulting in widespread infrastructure failures.”

She added that these failures have also led to block and single outages, which are being addressed.

“Our teams have been working tirelessly to restore power, and additional repair teams have been deployed to affected areas to speed up the restoration process. These teams will continue working overnight, particularly as more rain is expected, to restore supply wherever possible,” Moya said.

She said power has successfully been restored in areas such as Menlo Park.

“However, we fully acknowledge that many residents and businesses remain without electricity, and we remain committed to resolving these outages as quickly as possible.”

She said the city appreciated the patience and understanding of residents and businesses during this challenging time.

“While immediate restoration remains our top priority, we are also focusing on long-term solutions to enhance the resilience and reliability of the city’s power infrastructure and prevent future disruptions.”

These measures include:

– Taking decisive action against cable theft and illegal connections, which place additional strain on the city’s infrastructure.

– Ongoing maintenance and upgrades to strengthen network stability and resilience.

– Enhancing response capacity to address faults more efficiently.

– Investing in sustainable energy solutons to build a more stable and reliable power supply.

Moya stated that the city will continue to provide regular updates as work progresses and urges residents to report any ongoing faults through the official customer service channels.

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