CTP Gravure and several other Prospecton companies are struggling with severe power and water outages that have disrupted production and forced them to incur unexpected, unbudgeted costs.

Also read: Another power outage hits Isipingo

At CTP Gravure, a printing company on Joyner Road, problems began on October 30, when an electricity outage lasting 31 hours occurred. The company’s chief engineer, Veno Govender, believes the outage was caused by cables that were damaged on Prospecton Road during construction related to canal upgrades in the area. The second outage happened on November 2, lasting for 45 hours.

Between then and December 9, a further eight outages and power dips have taken place. Govender said it is not only the electricity that has been affected by the construction, but also the internet connection, and water and sewer infrastructure. From October 30 to November 9, electricity was off for 200 hours.

“This has caused a lot of downtime for us, which is why we decided to hire generators,” said Govender.

The combined output of all the generators to keep the company running is 5 100kVA, and so far, the company has spent almost R5m on diesel. All costs related to the disruptive electricity and the related knock-on effect amount to over R10.6m, excluding overtime costs for staff.

“We prepare all year for this busy period, and we were lined up for a lot of jobs, which meant we had to run at full capacity, but we could not do that,” he said.

Also read: New cable to ease Lotus Park electricity woes

The company’s general production manager, Jonathan Lawrence, said that when supply dips, it damages the machinery, further setting production back.

“And we are also eight days behind in production because of all the stopping and starting. Every interruption causes production to crash. There has to be a clean-up afterwards, and we start all over again,” said Lawrence.

Ward 93 councillor Shad Nowbuth has confirmed that the contractor rebuilding canals in Prospecton damaged underground electricity cables, triggering the latest round of power failures.

“According to the electricity department’s manager, a new line is being installed and should be completed later today (December 10). Power should be restored permanently by this afternoon,” said Nowbuth.

However, despite businesses and residents enduring six weeks of unreliable electricity, Nowbuth offered little clarity. He held two meetings with local businesses in recent weeks, but failed to provide any resolutions. He said he is waiting for the relevant departments to provide answers.

The supply ended up being reinstated on December 11 at around 10:30.

Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.