Cape Town - Macassar residents in ward 109 are at their wits’ end as the area has been experiencing extended power outages allegedly caused by a contractor widening parts of their roads.
On Wednesday night, frustrated residents barricaded Macassar Road, leading to Huntsman Apartments, a new development in the area, demanding immediate action from authorities.
Ward councillor Peter Helfrich said a “blame game” and a “tit for tat” between Eskom and the contractor had ensued while the residents had been plunged into darkness for days.
Helfrich said they had to beg Eskom to meet the community for the past few days to find a solution. He said the situation could have been avoided if Eskom had come to the party.
Community leader Debbie Myburgh said that it was unacceptable that households were left in the dark from Saturday with no information provided.
“Our frustration is that no one is coming forward to say what is the cause and whether Eskom or anyone responsible for this mess is working on fixing it.
“Instead, we have been left to our own devices. However, if we can’t have power these people at Huntsman must also struggle somehow because this outage was caused by a contractor widening a road for them that we believe doesn’t need such, nor benefit from.
“There are people and families whose lives depend on the uninterrupted supply of electricity. Someone out there depends on a respiratory device to keep them breathing but seemingly these people don’t care,” she said.
Helfrich said in engaging the contractor it was claimed that the way-leave provided by Eskom was incorrect and did not accurately indicate where its cables were running. But Eskom had denied this and issued multiple warnings to the contractor.
“Our people have had enough. It is not acceptable to leave residents, who have so many other problems to worry about, in darkness for these extended periods – especially if this is avoidable.
“Residents have also given a clear indication that they intend on claiming from the responsible party for the losses they have incurred,” he said.
Helfrich said the contractor had agreed to stop the work until a meeting had taken place with Eskom.
Eskom said its operators worked around the clock to complete the complex repairs and the electricity supply was eventually restored on Thursday.