It is no secret that the recent load shedding schedules have disrupted residents and businesses immensely. For one resident in Wilgeheuwel, however, they are often left in the dark for much longer than the suggested hours by City Power. Julian Kruger, a father of a one-year-old pair of twins, said the load shedding he experiences is often not on schedule and has been left without power for hours on end. “How am I supposed to take care of them without electricity?
“It is very frustrating. Last week, we experienced a power cut from 2pm to 6.30pm and it was back for just a few minutes before it went off again,” Kruger lamented. “When my wife woke up at 1am, the power was still not off.” Kruger’s frustrations stem from what he said is a lack of concern from City Power officials.
“On the few occasions that I have gotten through to someone, they always tell me that the lights are out because of cable theft. Meanwhile, the street lights are on during the day and off at night. Where have you heard of that?”
Ward 97 councillor Jaco Engelbrecht responded to Kruger on 10 December, after contacting Louis Pieterse from City Power.
“I have, on two occasions, attempted to get answers to the question on why power is off for such excessive periods of time in Wilgeheuwel,” stated Engelbrecht. “Noel Maso [City Power field manager], has not bothered to respond. I have therefore escalated the matter. There is not supposed to be much more load shedding, and even when there is, power remains off beyond the schedule.”
Kruger says it is a daily struggle to get the simplest things done because of the ridiculous hours without power. He added that in some instances they have gone as long as 17 hours without electricity.
Engelbrecht added “City Power indicated to me, in response to my queries as to why the power does not come back on as per the load shedding schedule, that load shedding comes with its own challenges and that, when power is restored, a number of things cause residents to be off longer than scheduled. One of these issues may be an inrush current that is too powerful for a substation, another may be opportunistic cable theft, because thieves are able to steal knowing that there is no power that could pose a danger to them.”
