eThekwini Municipality said illegal electricity connections were the cause of unstable supply and lengthy blackouts in some Durban areas.
Durban - Two years ‒ that’s how long residents of Nagina, Pinetown, have been trying to get the city to give them water and electricity they can count on.
Community members claim to have been experiencing continuous water and electricity outages for the past two years.
According to resident Lindie van Tonder, countless pleas for help to have the issues resolved have been made to the ward councillor, only to receive no response. “Most times we go without electricity for two to three weeks and when we appeal to our councillor, he does not respond to us.
“The water tankers are also a problem, because they do not arrive on time; sometimes three out of 10 times, I would say. Usually we’re told that only the ward councillor can get the tankers arranged and when we try to contact him, he is always unavailable.
“He ignores the pleas of our community and its needs,” said Van Tonder.
She said another problem contributing to the electricity outages was “too many illegal electricity connections and cable theft”.
“Criminals seem to have the upper hand, continuously stealing, as well as burning the cables every time that a repair is made. As a community, we have lost most of our appliances (because they have been) damaged with the endless power failures we have here.
“Today (Wednesday) our entire community had to get rid of all perishable foods that had been kept in fridges and freezers, because it had all gone spoilt and rotten after seven days of not having electricity,” said Van Tonder.
Another resident, Mbali Madondo, said she worked from home and the power cuts affected her badly. “Every time when the lights go out, I have to tell my boss because my laptop battery doesn’t last long without charging.
“Last week, the electricity was off from 11pm on Thursday and only came back for a short time on Saturday afternoon, only to go out again.
“It is very frustrating, because I also have to prepare for my daughter when she goes to school,” said Madondo.
She said she had to buy a gas cylinder because of the constant power outages.
Ward 13 Councillor Reginald Cloete said he was attending to the matter.
“I have reported that the matter has been resolved and there is progress because we have electricity at this moment,” said Cloete, before ending the call and refusing to comment further.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the water challenges were linked to ongoing rehabilitation at Durban Heights treatment works. The storage reservoir is offline and the rehabilitation of Reservoir 3 at Durban Heights is anticipated to be completed in December.
“This does not only affect Nagina but uMlazi, Verulam, Ntuzuma, Trenance Park, Nsimbini and Folweni,“ said Mayisela.
He said illegal connections and theft of electricity continued to be a huge concern in both electrified and non-electrified areas within the city.
“Illegal connections burden the electricity network which results in constant power outages.
“Exposed live cables have birthed a lot of tension between illegally connected households and paying customers. Such events have forced the electricity unit’s revenue protection department to frequent these areas for disconnections,” said Mayisela.
“We are calling upon all our residents to be ambassadors against illegal connections. Residents are urged to report suspicion of cable theft and illegal electricity connections to our Contact Centre on 080 311 1111 (toll free), or alternatively, email us on electricity.faults@durban.gov.za or call the South African Police Service on 10111,” added Mayisela.
Independent On Saturday