Residents fume over ‘resolved’ power faults, metro denies premature call closures

A recurring pattern of service requests being closed without repairs being done is increasingly frustrating residents, leaving them in the dark for days.

Patrice Lassere, a resident of John Street in Muckleneuk, said he logged a call for a power outage on June 16, only to later discover it had been marked as resolved even though the outage persisted.

“They closed my previous reference number and gave me a new one. I then had to wait again,” he said.

“A woman from the metro even called to ask if my power was on, but nothing had been done.”

Lassere’s initial call was replaced with a new one on June 25.

According to the metro, the delay was because technicians could not gain access to the property to carry out tests.

Tshwane spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, said a reference number was provided to the customer when he logged the first complaint.

“A technician was dispatched on-site and could not gain access to the complainant’s property to carry out the necessary tests on the supply line.

On June 23, the job card was sent back to control as the technician could not gain access to the complainant’s property, and a call was made to no avail.”

Mashigo said the complainant logged another call on June 25. An 80A circuit breaker was replaced by the city’s technician.

He denied the existence of references being closed prematurely in the electricity department.

“We do not acknowledge a pattern of premature closures, particularly within the electricity department, as claimed by several councillors.”

According to Mashigo, jobs are marked as complete after a technician attends to the site, and in some cases, call-backs are made when an entire area’s supply is restored.

“Feedback is also provided to the respective ward councillor to inform them about the restoration of power supply,” he added.

When asked about improving accountability and public trust in the metro’s fault reporting and resolution system, Mashigo said an upgrade from a manual to an automated system is being considered.

However, Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson said the issue of service calls being closed prematurely is widespread in the metro’s electricity department.

“Residents frequently report service requests being marked as ‘completed’ or ‘resolved’ when, in fact, no physical work has been undertaken,” he said.

“In my ward, faults have been closed as ‘complete’ even though no repairs had been conducted. Only after escalation did a team return, sometimes three days later, to do the actual work.”

Wilkinson believes the practice could stem from internal pressures to meet key performance indicators.

“It’s almost like they’re buying time,” he said.

“In theory, the system should work; however, in practice, poor co-ordination and a lack of oversight have undermined it.”

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