The residents of Mountview in Verulam have expressed utter disappointment with the eThekwini Municipality as they took to the streets in protest on Sunday, 9 January, angered by the ongoing power outages.
No less than 100 residents joined the demonstration to voice their dissatisfaction and held placards demanding the restoration of electricity, which had been off since 1am. Dinen Kisten, a Mountview resident and co-ordinator of the Mountview Community Police Forum, who was also involved in the protest, said when they reported the fault they were given a number of different reasons for the outages. “We were first told that technicians were assigned to repair a transformer on Alhambra Drive that malfunctioned. A fellow member and myself personally drove to the site to get an idea of what was happening. When we saw there was no technician, we reported it to the call centre agent who said that the problem was actually on a cable leading to a power-box in the area. We then made our way to the said area and found no technicians there either,” he said.
“We tried making contact with the call centre again with no luck. It was then that we decided to take a stand as a community to protest against appalling service delivery. It was only after our protest that our councillor got a message saying the outage was due to cable theft in Ottawa and it was being replaced.” Kisten believes the community was given misleading information by municipal officials. “As a community, especially the elderly and ill, we have grown extremely frustrated. These outages happen far too often. Over December, many residents purchased food in bulk to store in their freezers. These outages have caused our food to spoil. This is not something the municipality would compensate for. Our councillor, Johnson Chetty, has definitely been a tremendous help and his efforts to assist us have not gone unnoticed.”
He said the municipality needs to “step up their game”. “As rates and tax-payers we should not have to fight for basic services. If there is a problem we should be notified correctly. Misinforming us only angers us.” Kisten said by staging the protest he is hoping to send a message that enough is enough. “Residents of Mountview have been quiet for a long time. This is the first time we took a stand. We simply had enough of poor service delivery. If these outages continue we will continue to protest. Our residents deserve basic services.” Mountview resident, Kevin Chetty, said service delivery in Mountview is completely terrible and has gotten worse over the years. “When we call the call centres there is always different feedback. The protest was completely necessary and will continue should terrible service delivery persist within the region.”
Ward councillor for the area, Johnson Chetty, said one would have expected that in a highly-ranked metro municipality like eThekwini, the ratepayers would receive service delivery of an above-average standard. “These residents had reason to be peeved regarding the sporadic and constant power outages. They were irked even more by the inconsistencies, and sometimes untruths, disseminated by the call centre. It would seem that this government only reacts when people protest because it was only then that I received the cooperation of the management of electricity. In a time of crisis, middle and senior management of electricity were unreachable. This government must learn that ratepayers are entitled to service delivery. They pay for the service and the consumers deserve a reasonable amount of reciprocal support.” Municipal spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said: “Upon thorough investigation of the alleged claims of frequent outages in the area as well as the reference attached, there are no records of a pattern that supports such claims. This past weekend the area experienced power failure due to multiple cable faults and power was restored Sunday afternoon.”
