Residents and business owners from Isiphingo in the south of Durban have pleaded with the eThekwini municipality to fix the constant power outages in the area before businesses are forced to shut down and lives are lost.
The owners and residents say the outages have become so regular that the municipality has to up its game and urgently attend to the matter.
This is contained in a letter seen by Sunday World, which was addressed to Philani Shange, the acting head of the electricity department in the beleaguered municipality.
Outages threaten livelihoods
The representative of the owners and residents, Muhammad Baaqir Rahaman, told Shange that the outages affected mainly Isipingo Hills, Orient Park, Lotus Park, Isipingo Rail, and Isipingo Beach.
“Just last night, Isipingo Hills suffered three more surges. This further damaged appliances and raise serious concerns about the safety and stability of the supply. Residents are understandably anxious and frustrated. And this issue has now persisted for months with no clear end in sight. Many have already suffered financial losses and continue to face emotional and physical stress due to these unpredictable surges,” Rahaman told Shange in the letter.
Rahaman reminded Shange that this is not a minor issue as lives are at risk.
“Please understand, Mr. Shange, that electricity is not a small issue. Lives are potentially at risk if these faults continue unaddressed. We are already seeing the damage it’s causing to homes, food storage, security systems, and appliances.
Businesses, food, security systems
“We are hoping this meeting will not only give residents a voice but also allow the municipality to take proactive steps to address these issues before something tragic occurs,” he added.
He also raised concerns that the municipality’s insurance department has a habit of rejecting claims. Residents who are affected by outages have their claims rejected without the damages being assessed.
He wants Shange to bring them along to the meeting with the community.
“We also kindly request that relevant members of your team, including the Insurance Department, attend the meeting. This would allow affected residents the opportunity to share their damages and show their documented evidence (including voltage readings and repairs). And also get direct guidance on how to move forward with claims that have been delayed, dismissed, or unaddressed.”
The spokesperson of the municipality, Gugu Sisilana, blamed infrastructure theft and vandalism.
Municipality blames vandalism
“The persistently high levels of electrical infrastructure theft and vandalism in Isiphingo continue to undermine the municipality’s efforts to provide a stable and consistent power supply. As an interim measure, the Energy Management Directorate has installed temporary switch pillars to replace vandalised distributor substations.
“However, it is important to note that these temporary installations do not provide adequate electrical protection. This contributes to ongoing outages. To address this, the city is currently in the process of securing a contract for integrated substation security. This is to to curb theft and vandalism more effectively,” Sisilana said.
In addition, Sisilana said the area has been affected by a series of medium voltage cable failures and overload trips. These are caused by abnormal network conditions.
“Technical teams are actively responding to these faults as they occur. Repairs are underway on a failed cable between the old airport and Wilcox Road. This is expected to help stabilise the electricity supply once completed.”
