As Joburg residents battle a water crisis, Devi and her neighbours in Rynsoord, Benoni are also fighting to keep the lights on – a struggle that has them fearing for her life and future.
Electricity in the area went out for three days last week, resulting in the 22-year-old missing a job interview. Her family threw away almost R2 000 worth of food that spoiled during the heatwave and incurred fridge repair costs due to frequent outages. Others in neighbouring areas reported five-day-long outages.
“My family always says I crashout over not having lights, but, I mean, is it not a reasonable crashout on not having lights, you know? You’re applying for jobs, you’re trying to make your way in the world, but you have no electricity.
“I had an interview the other day, but I didn’t have lights, so I couldn’t make the interview. It’s so unfair,” she told The Citizen.
Despite the disappointment of a missed employment opportunity, frustration increased when the electricity went out again around 1am on Thursday.
Following the outage, communication had gone out promising residents that it would be restored shortly, but only returned on Friday.
ALSO READ: City Power maintenance week: These areas will be without electricity
Council’s ‘unreliable information’
“The communication is abysmal, and you’re relying on these people. It’s not like they’re doing us a favour. I know it sounds very hectic to say, but if you’re working in public service, if you’re working for communities, you owe them something. You owe them transparency, you owe them honesty.”
“Even when you call these call centres, they are not giving you the right information either. We called three times, and each time we were told something different, so it is very unreliable,” she expressed.
These issues are said to have gone back many years, where outages are longer than the suggested time that it would take to complete repairs.
“They just say, ‘Oh yeah, we are working on it’, but walk us through the process, explain it to us, we are not electricians, we don’t understand how cables are being laid out.”
“That’s what I think a lot of people get frustrated with… so if you’re saying it’s taking eight hours to test, let’s say you start from eight in the morning, by the evening time, why don’t we have lights?”
The City of Ekhuruleni has not responded to The Citizen‘s request for comment on the extent of the outages and the way forward. However, it said last Friday that technicians were on site, “currently doing final touches and testing cables on the link boxes.”
Getting worse
When Devi and her family moved to the area in 2022, she recalls electricity outages as uncommon and says they were managed effectively and swiftly when they occurred.
“The turnaround time was maybe a day. On the same day, we would get lights,” she said.
But in 2023, the matter worsened to weekly blackouts and constant cable theft.
“Technicians are not repairing the cables properly, so it’s tripping. There are faults. There’s a lot of illegal mining in Benoni, so there are a lot of explosions that are damaging the cables as well. It is getting to a point where our community members in Mackenzie Park, in New Modder and Rynsoord, we have to pay for our own security to make sure that these cables aren’t stolen”.
Pay to keep safe
Prolonged electricity outages decrease safety in homes as electric fences and gates stop working. During outages, gate batteries last about a day until they need to be manually unlocked and locked.
“That’s what a lot of people are doing in the area. It’s very scary because if you don’t lock your gate, someone can come into your yard. A lot of passersby notice when communities don’t have electricity. It becomes a very scary and dangerous situation.”
Households nearby contribute around R250 each month to private security companies to patrol the area and ensure their safety.
“You’re paying so much money, but still the cables are being stolen, and a lot of people just stop paying for it because it feels like a waste of money at this point,” she says.
“It just feels like no one cares and they are failing the people who need these services more than ever, its so unfair.
“There are so many elderly care facilities in Benoni, what happens to them when there are no lights? When there is no water? When there is no one to take care of them?” she asked.
More than just power issues
Breadwinners are having to sacrifice monthly costs to save up enough to afford a generator or solar panel to get by and keep dependents alive on life support at home. Devi has noticed that many households in her area have moved to solar energy, “and it’s not a hasty decision.”
Although the payment options seem plenty like rent-to-buy, the reality is that deposits range from R7000 upwards. Many informal settlements in the surrounding area and residents in Benoni cannot keep up with these expenses, let alone afford access, and resort to alternative ways of living to survive.
Certain parts of Benoni, like Daveyton, experience both water and electricity outages at the same time.
There are many businesses and hospitals in Benoni CBD that “go without lights for days”.
“You can send emails and complain to the councillor, but it feels like it’s just being taken in vain because nothing is being done.”
The Community Policing Forum
Ahmed Essop has lived in Benoni for over 40 years and has experienced the outages increasing over time. Now he is called out to a potential cable theft site at least four to five times a week.
Essop has been a part of the community forum for 30 years. He also works from home, so electricity outages cause everything “to come to a standstill”.
“We can’t really work, and we lose a lot of food. There’s a whole host of issues that come with it”
Despite patrolling on his own at night or with a few other cars in the community Ahmed is dedicated to bettering the state of his community.
“We try to keep our lights on. I personally know what people go through, the challenges they experience, so I try and do my best, knowing that if I don’t go out and if the cable has to go somewhere, we’re gonna have outages for days.”
Essop is aware of the challenges the council faces regarding repairs to cables and the lack of funding.
“It’s time that I think we as a community need to take back our streets and what we pay for, but unfortunately, police are not in the position to do much for us with a lot of crime. The police also have their own challenges, and they are under-resourced. So, we just need to get back in there and reclaim what is ours,” he says.
Constant Cable Theft
The MacKenzie community organised a protest at the Benoni customer centre on Friday, where Rynsoord residents and residents from surrounding areas joined and spoke to councillors and police officers.
A police officer addressed the community at the protest.
“We are suffering the same situation. We spoke with the councillors, we spoke with the MMC, and told them that they need to have security for cables,” the officer said.
He also asked that the community not direct their anger at the wrong people.
VIDEO: supplied by Devi– Residents are frustrated with the City Council’s communication around the outages and repairs
READ MORE: Mining sector sounds alarm over soaring electricity costs
About the Author
