Powerless after cable glitch

POLOKWANE – Residents who live in Quenon Street in the RDP section of Westenburg say they have been left cold and in the dark after a municipal truck accidentally hooked and pulled the electric cables from an electric pole in Buys Street on Sunday morning.

The electric box in Quenon Street is very close to the one in Buys Street and residents were left without electricity after the accident.

The matter was immediately reported to the municipality, but by Tuesday some of the residents still had to cope without electricity.

Bertha Richter said it was very frustrating that the municipality was taking so long to rectify the problem.

“There is no electricity so we cannot cook or keep warm with a cup of coffee and we have to wash in cold water in the heart of winter. Our food has gone off because the fridge doesn’t work. This is unacceptable and the municipality must reimburse us, because where are we supposed to get the money to replace the food that has gone bad,” Richter said.

When Review visited the site on Tuesday, the electric box was not closed and the cables inside were visible. The electric box’s door was also closed with a thin wire. The broken electric pole and the electric cables were lying on the ground.

Richter said the box’s door was tied with wire to keep the children safe. “The door can fall at any time and hurt one of us or, even worse, one of the children. This is just plain negligence from the municipality.”

Tidimalo Chuene, a municipal spokesperson, said the municipality was aware of the damage.

“A repair team was dispatched on Sunday to attend to the matter.

“The team could not finalise the repairs due to the nature of the damage. That is why the site was not completely cleared.

“The municipal repair team is still on site and we are hoping that the damage will be repaired and connection restored as soon as possible,” Chuene explained.