Fed up residents gathered at the Govan Mbeki Municipality and demanded to see the mayor, Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, on Wednesday, December 8.
They were told he was busy and they then demanded to see the acting municipal manager, Ms Lizzy Tshabalala.
This came after Ms Ena van Rooyen, DA councillor, sent out a message on social media that she was going to the municipality to get answers about the ongoing electricity issues in her ward.
Her ward includes the CBD, the light industrial district around the police station and adjoining residential areas.
These areas have been experiencing extended power outages for days on end.
Ms Van Rooyen invited the community to join her.
Angry residents showed up and eventually saw Ms Tshabalala who said she will contact the technical manager who is overseeing the electricity section.
“They first said the municipal manager is busy. I told them to then give all these people answers because they are demanding answers from me and I do not know what to tell them anymore,” said Ms Van Rooyen.
Residents waited for nearly an hour for the technical manager after they were told he would be there in 15 minutes.
Ms Van Rooyen then again called on Ms Tshabalala to address the residents.
Ms Tshabalala then went outside and spoke to the people and she called the technical manager who showed up and also addressed the people.
According to residents, the technical manager did not really give answers as to why no maintenance was done.
He said the Ring Sub Station 1, where the problems are, is very old. The infrastructure is at least 30 years old.
The residents said it should have been maintained and cables should have been replaced. If this was done, they would not have had to sit with power outages now.
The manager and Ms Tshabalala just apologised and said they will fix it as soon as possible.
Cable theft and vandalism were also a problem at this substation earlier this year.
Ms Mariaan Chamberlain, another DA councillor, kept residents informed about the electricity issues and said on Wednesday the new cable for ring-substation 1 is on the way and that the task is bigger than what the municipal workers anticipated.
“The team is planning to replace the cable to ring-substation 2 which is also a big concern and is currently giving problems at ring-substation 1,” said Ms Chamberlain.
“The meat in my fridge is now rotten for the second time and we have been without electricity for days now,” said one of the angry residents.
Mr Lucky Mhlongo, the spokesman of Govan Mbeki Municipality, said the municipality is aware of the electricity issues and apologises for any inconvenience caused.
“Our technicians are currently on the ground and working on the electricity issues,” said Mr Mhlongo.
