Prolonged power outages: residents counting their losses

RESIDENTS of Reservoir Hills and Clare Estate have been left in the dark since Friday, after multiple cable faults left them without power, leading to food spoilage and safety concerns.

- NADIA KHAN, MONISHKA GOVERNDER and YOSHINI PERUMAL

Yogesh Naidoo, director of the Reservoir Hills Ratepayers Association. NPC, said the prolonged electricity outages had crippled over 50 streets across Reservoir Hills, Athol Heights (Westville North), and Clare Estate.

He said, while the bulk of the power was restored late on Monday, several streets still remained without electricity yesterday (Tuesday).

"Residents and businesses had food spoilage. This has resulted in increased household costs due to the wastage, reliance on gas, generators and bat-tery-operated devices. There has also been severe disruption to livelihoods, particularly for those working from home and small businesses.

"In addition, there have been heightened security risks due to non-functioning lights, alarms, and electric fences. The explanation by the city fails to provide clarity, omits critical timelines, and does not address the root cause of the infrastructure collapse or the sluggish response time by the electricity department. This is not an isolated event," he said.

Naidoo said they demanded imme-diate action, full accountability, and a commitment to long-term solutions.

"Should these demands be ignored, we will escalate this matter to the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Public Protector, the South African Human Rights Commission, and other regulatory bodies.