While residents of parts of Roosevelt Park, Blackheath and Northcliff are up in arms with ongoing power outages, Ward 126 councillor David Brand of Weltevreden Park said his area was confronted with the same crisis.
Although the debacle could not be compared to that of Roosevelt Park, Brand indicated that his area also experienced continual power outages. “My area, Ward 126, has been having continual power outages caused by little maintenance and old infrastructure,” Brand said.
Affected residents in Northcliff and surrounding areas are currently at war with the City of Johannesburg, threatening to sue and claim damages from the municipality after going without electricity for days. The residents also summoned the City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba during a peaceful protest at Roosevelt Park substation to address the issue.
Brand listed a few factors that intensify outages in his area. “It becomes a tremendous stress because the outages are not only caused by old infrastructure and poor maintenance… but are also aggravated by third party contractors who damage pipes when doing a digging job, and cable theft.”
Brand added that City Power had put together a task team to address the issue of cable theft, saying that most incidents occur in unlit areas.
