7 days in the dark sparks fury in Melrose, Illovo, and surrounds

Melrose, Illovo, Birdhaven, and surrounding suburbs have been without electricity for an unbearable seven days, leaving residents frustrated, businesses crippled, and the city’s response under fire. With no power, many businesses have been forced to shut their doors, unable to operate, while residents scramble to keep their food from spoiling and find ways to charge their devices.

Read more: City Power updates residents over prolonged power outage 

Ward 74 councillor Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku has been vocal about the lack of urgency from City Power and municipal officials, describing the situation as unacceptable. After nearly a week of silence, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment, Infrastructure, and Services Jack Sekwaila finally conducted an oversight visit to Melrose on March 12. His visit, which included briefings from City Power’s group head Lufuno Bale and Alexandra Service Delivery Centre’s general manager Mamodise Nkogatse, was meant to assess the progress of the restoration efforts. By this stage, 60% of the power supply had been restored, but for the remaining residents, still plunged in darkness, the wait drags on.

For Kayser-Echeozonjoku, the MMC’s visit was too little, too late. She criticised him for only arriving when the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge, scheduled to pass through Ward 74 on March 13, was at risk of being run in darkness. She accused him of ignoring residents’ frustrations and failing to alert her, their elected representative, before his visit. Forced to charge her phone at a restaurant with electricity, just to keep residents updated, she said it was disgraceful that it took six days for the MMC to act. According to Kayser-Echeozonjoku, the delay showed a complete lack of respect for the ratepayers of Melrose, Illovo, Elton Hill, Birdhaven, Abbotsford, Savoy, Waverley, and surrounding areas – residents who contribute significantly to the city’s revenue base and expect basic services in return.

Also read: City Power clarifies confusion around the surcharges of newly installed meters

The outage has wreaked havoc on local businesses, with many unable to function without electricity. A business owner in Illovo, who wished to remain anonymous, said that while residents and businesses struggle, the city has dragged its feet. “We pay exorbitant rates, yet we’re treated like an afterthought. If this was Sandton, power would have been restored immediately.”

City Power maintains that full restoration is imminent, but after seven days of frustration, residents remain sceptical. Kayser-Echeozonjoku has made it clear that unless power is restored to all affected areas, the MMC’s visit will have been nothing but a fruitless exercise. As the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge prepares to take over the streets of Ward 74, the city’s priorities are once again under scrutiny, leaving residents questioning whether they matter as much as a corporate event.

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Related article: City Powers teams make substantial headway in restoring power to affected areas