The Tshwane metro has confirmed that persistent power outages in the Doornpoort and Montana are due to critical infrastructure challenges, specifically electricity cables submerged in waterlogged terrain.

Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo stated that the problem stems from repeated vandalism and theft on private land (Farm Doornpoort 320 JR, Portion 280), which has severely damaged the cables and made routine maintenance nearly impossible.

Residents have endured daily power outages for months, with some areas recently experiencing more than 24 hours without electricity.

Frustrated community members have accused the municipality of failing to act decisively, citing delays and the misallocation of funds initially earmarked for rerouting the affected power lines.

According to Mashigo, funds have not yet been allocated for the rerouting or upgrading of the infrastructure.

He said the metro has, however, submitted a request for capital funding to re-engineer the electrical network.

“Should the request be approved, the metro would either replace the damaged cables along the registered servitude or reroute them via the R101.

Mashigo said the cables were originally installed according to regulations and do not, under current conditions, constitute a public safety hazard.

However, he admitted that recurring cable joints, introduced due to theft and vandalism, are now highly vulnerable to water exposure during heavy rains, which has led to frequent blackouts.

While residents such as Deon Venter allege that funds were previously allocated to solve the issue, Mashigo firmly denied this.

Venter questioned why previously promised funds had gone missing and accused the metro of diverting service delivery budgets to security and water tanker services.

“If the money was made available as per the budget speech last year, this issue would have been resolved,” said Venter.

The metro has yet to offer a clear timeline for when the repairs or rerouting will begin.

For now, the only assurance residents have is that repair teams will respond to outages as they occur, with more permanent solutions contingent on future funding approvals.

Venter demanded more than just patchwork fixes.

He wants transparency, accountability, and urgent investment in infrastructure to end the cycle of darkness and disruption in his community.

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Freedom Front Plus councillor Mark Surgeon said three underground cables run through the open field north of Doornpoort and under the highway, and two of those cables have been damaged over time due to excessive cable theft.

“Where the cable is repaired, it creates a weak point, so typically when we have a lot of load-shedding back in the day, whenever the cable is re-energised after load-shedding, it causes a jolt, and it sometimes causes that cable to open up in a bit of water.

“During the previous administration I think it was around initially R80-million that was budgeted to replace these cables and reroute them. Then that number was brought down to around 55 due to some good cost-cutting measures of meeting the work would still be done just at a cheaper cost and then that work never materialised with the change of administration,” said Surgeon.

He said that with the new budget coming through council, they have not seen any evidence of this project being budgeted.

“Unfortunately, at this stage, it looks like the cables will not be fixed for the foreseeable future unless there is some budget for it in the new budget.”

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