VEREENIGING – Peacehaven residents have been at the centre of controversy after numerous complaints about the lack of service delivery from the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM). This time, the residents are facing electricity woes after a power outage that has persisted for over three weeks.

After experiencing days of darkness, residents took to the streets in a protest, barricading the busy General Hertzog Road in Three Rivers in a plea to get attention from the ELM. When this had no positive outcome, residents on Wednesday barricaded the gates of the ELM’s Electrical Department depot in Duncanville after they endured days of darkness due to a power outage.

Police arrived at the scene and forced residents to remove their vehicles from the gate.

Speaking to Ster North, resident Nthabeleng Malope said the electrical issue started three weeks ago, with just a few houses affected.

“More houses got affected as days progressed. People from the electrical department came on Monday and could not find where the fault was. We have sick people in our area, some of them use oxygen, and this requires them to have a consistent electricity supply.”

Hannah Koekemoer, community spokesperson, said that they have a lot of elderly and vulnerable people living in the Peacehaven area. She stated that not having electricity for days was negatively impacting them and their health.

“Our community is not rich, so some people cannot afford alternative sources of energy.”

Koekemoer said all they want is for someone from the Electrical Department to inform them when they will be fixing the issue, stating that ELM is quick to cut them off for non-payment but does not react swiftly whenever there are infrastructure issues.

Ward 15 councillor Prudence Hlanyane says: “The residents of Peacehaven had had to grapple with electricity issues for about three weeks, but currently, they have not had power for five consecutive days. The municipality has since come out to check out the problem and subsequently alerted us that the purchase order has not been signed for a contractor to come out and fix the problem.”

After visiting the ELM offices in Vanderbijlpark, Hlanyane said that a Purchase Order was signed and that a contractor would be sent out to start working in Peacehaven.