Residents left in the dark
Power cuts a health and safety risk for Jacaranda Retirement Village.
Uninterrupted electricity has become a pipe dream for residents at Jacaranda Retirement Village.
Resident Bob Innes said the power cuts at their complex are completely out of hand. “We’ve had 33 power failures from April to date, with a total of 156 hours of down time.” According to Innes, they experience a power outage every second or third day in a week.
He explained that the longest power cut they experienced lasted for 13 hours and 10 minutes, but most of the time they last between two to six hours.
Besides being an inconvenience, power outages pose a huge security risk as without power the complex’s electric fence is not operational. “This is quite dangerous as you can see that on two sides of our complex is an open veld,” Innes said.
Without electricity residents have no choice but to open their garages manually, which is difficult and dangerous for elderly people. Three of the village’s residents are on oxygen machines and have to move in with their families until the village’s power is returned.
Innes, who also serves as the vice-chairman of the village, said he has on several occasions tried to make contact with City Power, but his efforts have come to nothing. “I couldn’t get through to them. I went personally to their offices in Roodepoort to see the person in charge but I was not helped.”
Ward Councillor Jaco Engelbrecht has contacted City Power telephonically and has also sent numerous emails but has received no response.
Innes mentioned the village has never received official communication from City Power.
