Power cut at Wendywood clinic
The alleged Eskom outstanding debt at Wendywood clinic leaves community members worried about their primary health care provider.
A primary health care clinic in Wendywood has been operating without electricity for several weeks, leaving vulnerable patients and overworked healthcare workers grappling with inadequate conditions, disrupted services, and growing frustration over an allegedly unresolved municipal billing issue.
According to a concerned resident, Fabian Watson and the Ward 109 councillor, Lori Coogan, the power outage or cut stems from the vandalism of the electricity box which supplies power to the clinic. However, after they reported the vandalism of the box, Eskom allegedly refused to reconnect power until the clinic’s outstanding debt was settled.
Coogan said, “The power cut stems from a longstanding billing problem linked to a possible account duplication between the City of Johannesburg and Eskom.”
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She claimed that the clinic’s electricity was not disconnected by Eskom, but rather through vandalism, a situation Eskom reportedly used as an opportune moment to demand overdue payments before reconnection.
“I drove past the clinic last Friday after a meeting and saw it was closed. On Saturday, it was still shut. I contacted urban inspectors, environmental health officials, and even senior managers to get to the bottom of this. It’s become clear that this is not a recent problem; payments have been missed for months, possibly years.”
Coogan added that the clinic reportedly owed a significant amount to the City and Eskom, with conflicting accounts about whether one of the duplicate utility accounts was mistakenly closed.
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“This isn’t just about money. It is about lives. People wait for hours. Nurses can’t perform their duties. Medications that need refrigeration are at risk. This is not acceptable.”
She said that city officials, including representatives from Environmental Health, were being pressured to provide immediate updates and solutions.
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“This is not a household; it is a government-run clinic serving hundreds of people. How does an account fall so far behind without action? Someone dropped the ball, and now the community is paying the price.”
Eskom was contacted for comment, but there had been no response at the time of publication.
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