Residents of East Lynne and Niemand Park have lamented the state of service delivery in their area, saying prolonged power outages that have plagued the area since December 26 were just the tip of the iceberg.

They expressed their anger and frustration over poor service delivery during a community meeting that took place on Friday with the MMC for Utility Services Frans Boshielo. 

The area has been plunged into darkness since a December 26 fire at Koedoespoort Substation that damaged critical equipment at the facility.

Last week, the city announced that it had appointed a private contractor to assist its energy and electricity workers to repair multiple cable faults and restore power. 

However, on Friday, the city said: “The area in East Lynne that was previously restored has experienced a further trip. Technical teams are currently investigating the cause of the outage. City technicians, including the testing section, are already on site conducting testing and diagnostics on the electricity distribution network. Approximately 20 mini-substations are affected by the current trip.”

On Saturday night, Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya reported that she was on site to monitor ongoing work done by electricity teams to address the problem.

During the Friday community meeting residents said potholed roads, faulty streetlights, neglected infrastructure, and overgrown grass added to their list of grievances.

The community demanded to see improved services and infrastructure maintenance, urging the MMC to address these pressing issues and restore the quality of life in East Lynne and Niemand Park.

A resident, John de Klerk, wanted to know if the city has concrete plans to tackle the area’s crumbling infrastructure. 

“I would like to check that in South Africa If you are not fit for the position – can you really be removed from the office? Secondly, what measurements are you taking as the MMC to address the ageing infrastructure?” he asked.

Another resident, Peter Daniels, raised concerns about the efficacy of the city’s maintenance efforts, asking if there were plans to upgrade the electricity infrastructure and address the perceived skills gap among technicians tasked with fault finding.

“The lack of skills from technicians coming out and doing fault finding: Is there a plan from your department to upgrade the skills of the technicians that are coming to do the fault finding?,” he asked.

A frustrated resident voiced scathing criticism at the meeting, lambasting the city’s lack of communication and empathy during the power outage.

“You people didn’t even come once to address us about what is happening. Another thing is that you never thought of people who are taking medication that should go in a fridge… You never thought of people who are on oxygen because you are comfortable where you are,” she said.

Many people claimed that the city had reallocated a budget for infrastructure maintenance in the area.

In response, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni, group head for energy and electricity department pushed back against misinformation circulating in the community, stressing that claims of funds being diverted elsewhere were baseless.: 

“There isn’t a single person who has moved your money to another region. This issue that we have moved the money is not true. This area has been prioritised for this financial year.”

He explained that the burnt substation was quite old and that the process of repairing it involves leaving it better than what it was. 

“The internal team is repairing the old network while the contractor is creating an entirely new network. What we will end up with are now two networks that are now for backfeeding that means you will have a system that is better than what it was before,” he said.

There were also concerns raised about security at the substation to prevent cable theft and vandalism.

“What other communities are grouping themselves and registering something called Cups initiative, which is a community upliftment programme where they can be linked with the metro police and be able to report these issues directly to security and metro police for speedy resolution,” Lukhwareni said.

Boshielo, who apologised to the community for prolonged outages, said: “It is a sensitive issue and that is why I don’t want to politicise. It is totally unacceptable for the residents to have to endure such a power outage for such a prolonged period. 

An apology will not erase the damage you have suffered and the food you have thrown away and the pain you have endured and being without power for such a long time. This outage has certainly drained your financial resources. When everybody is enjoying the festive period you have to contend with darkness.”

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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