The power outage caused havoc for residents.
The communities of Parklands, Table View and surrounds, are grappling with a series of constant power outages that have disrupted their daily lives. The latest outage lasted for several days last week.
These frequent electrical failures are causing widespread frustration and inconvenience, highlighting a pressing need for improvements in the power infrastructure. As residents navigate the challenges posed by unreliable service, the call for prompt and effective solutions has never been more urgent, said one frustrated resident Colleen Fisher.
“This is ridiculous!” she declared “Days without electricity? Seriously? We’re not living in the Stone Age!”
Urgent intervention needs to take place,” she said. “I’ve spent so much on gas to cook, and when the power eventually comes back on Eskom wants us to fork out even more with their ridiculous electricity hike.”
The areas affected are supplied by Eskom Direct, which means the City of Cape Town has no influence on their electricity supply.
The power utility, in turn, pointed a finger at a faulty substation in the area.
'Repairs has not been successful'
Ward 113 councillor Jonathan Mills updated the residents on the power outage via social media. In one of the posts he said one of the breakers in the main substation was broken and needed repair. This, however, was not done on the same day, but Eskom re-directed the affected residents through a bypass channel.
“The on-site team has requested to be allowed to work without disruption, usually by an influx of residents whenever they are seen,” the post read last week. “They are trying to get the area up and running, and are delayed heavily if they need to answer too many questions.”
The team discovered a second mini-substation close to Sherwood Close had also failed.
“The technician advised us that this repair has not been successful and the entire unit may need to be replaced,” Mills posted last week. “A decision will be taken in the morning and we will try and get that feedback if we can. Eskom may not be able to restore power for another one or two days. We have previously this type of repair take up to six days.”
Other residents took their concerns to social media and raised their voices in collective frustration, pointing to the broader implications these power interruptions have on their lives.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis called on the community to sign a petition backing the City’s taking the electricity service over in Eskom supply areas and share it with all residents.
“The volume of complaints and the severity of issues reported is alarming,” he said. “It has become common for power outages to last several days with minimal updates from Eskom, leading to widespread frustration and even protests on our streets.
“Our City has a plan to change this situation for the better. We aim to take electricity services over from Eskom in these areas, ensuring reliable services for all residents and putting an end to long blackouts, and poor response times that have plagued these communities for too long. The City is planning to increase protection against Eskom’s load shedding, purchase more affordable electricity on the open market, and gradually end reliance on expensive, unreliable Eskom power.”
Investing
The City is also investing R4 billion into upgrading its electricity grid, “a clear testament to our commitment towards improving infrastructure maintenance,” said Hill-Lewis.
“This is not just about providing reliable power; it’s about fairness and equality among all Capetonians. It’s time we bring everyone into the City supply network so that all residents can benefit from improved service delivery. But Eskom has broken-off talks to transfer its supply areas to the City of Cape Town.
These talks had progressed to an advanced stage, with the City preparing to appoint consultants to chart the path toward taking over Eskom supply areas in Cape Town. The City hopes Eskom’s leadership will have a change of heart, and agree to a planning process for transfer of their supply areas to the City. Let us together support this initiative that will significantly improve life for many residents in Cape Town who have been struggling with unreliable power supply for years now.”
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