VEREENIGING – Frustrated residents from Leeuhof stormed the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s (ELM) electrical department offices to seek answers about why they were left in the dark for three consecutive days.

Residents say they reported the power outage on February 3 to the electrical department, but no feedback was given.

“We have been without electricity for three days with no communication from the municipality as to what the problem is. Only today (February 5) when we decided to go to the offices, are we being told that technicians are busy fixing the problem.”

Residents said that they are aware of unplanned outages being a part of life, adding that the lack of communication from the municipality’s side was very distasteful.

Ward 15 councillor Prudence Hlanyane said she also reported the matter on behalf of the residents.

ELM’s media relations officer Chuchi Radebe says: “The municipality was experiencing sporadic outages in Leeuhof, parts of Three Rivers, Vereeniging, and Duncanville. This led to an influx of reports to which the department attended.”

“Technicians identified multiple cable faults between feeder substations as the root cause. Our teams were dispatched and attended to each incident as reported on the list. Some calls took longer than others to resolve, creating a snowball effect that resulted in delayed turnaround times.”

Radebe confirmed that technicians were working on the last cable fault affecting Leeuhof and the area next to the Fire Department.

“If all goes per plan and no additional faults are identified, the power supply will be restored completing the list of reported power outages. We take this opportunity to unreservedly apologise to affected consumers for delayed communication and turnaround time.”

Radebe said technicians attend to these kinds of emergency calls daily.

“This was not a planned shutdown and as a result, no prior communication of the outage could be issued. We would also like to thank all affected consumers for their patience.”