Prinshof School for the Handicapped has entered its third week without electricity, with staff saying the prolonged outage has put medically vulnerable children at risk and disrupted learning, cooking, and daily care.

Staff manager Gawie Marais said the power first went off on November 23, briefly returned for about five hours last Friday, and then tripped again at 23:15 that night.

According to Marais, the power has remained off since the storms and has made daily functioning nearly impossible.

“Life without power is difficult, especially with handicapped children. We have a generator, but diesel is expensive,” he said.

According to him, the school has limited funds, and they have seven hospitals and three kitchens that need power.

He said they had to send some children home due to the power outage.

Marais said the kitchens, study halls, and medical facilities have all been affected, with some students relying on equipment that cannot operate without electricity.

“We normally cook for the children and staff. The power outage has also affected studying,” he said.

The school has logged multiple reference numbers over the past two weeks, including 115/24, 11/26, 3235/24, 1569/3, and 1572/3.

Marais said reference numbers were repeatedly closed despite work not being completed.

“According to the control room, all the references were cancelled, as the work was marked as completed. That was not the case. I then received new references, which are apparently still open because the work has not yet been completed,” he said.

He said that reporting problems to the Tshwane metro has become increasingly difficult.

“In the past, whenever an SMS was sent, you would get a reference number back. I don’t know if that system has fallen away.

“Now there’s no way of getting any reference numbers. Phoning is just as much of a problem. The phone rings, and then after a long time, someone answers and puts the phone down.”

Ward 82 councillor Siobhan Muller said progress in restoring power has been slow.

She noted that two complexes in Menlo Park have been without electricity for 12 and 14 days and will be prioritised for assistance.

“Both, myself and the teams, are exhausted after 12 days, and there may be mistakes,” Muller said.

Other areas in her ward still without power include a complex on 22nd Street and a complex on 1st Street. The following streets are also left in the dark: 10th, 15th, the corner of 19th and Justice Mahomed, a corner in Brooks, the intersection of Long and Milner, and Elizabeth Grove.

“We are moving forward slowly, but at least still forward,” Muller said.

Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson said some areas in his wards, including Sunnyside and Muckleneuk, remain without power.

“Groenkloof came on because I ‘hijacked’ a [metro] truck yesterday,” Wilkinson said.

MMC for Utilities Frans Boshielo said Pretoria’s electricity network suffered extensive damage during severe storms between November 29 and December 3.

He said the storms brought hail, uprooted trees, fallen poles, blown phases, and water entering underground cable systems.

However, 177 individual outages remain outstanding, which Boshielo said it will prioritise from December 8.

“The city sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and assures residents that teams are working around the clock to complete all outstanding restorations,” Boshielo said.

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