Durban - Frustrated Durban residents spoke of how they had to throw away food stored in fridges because of week-long electricity outages.
On Wednesday power was finally restored in Clare Estate after 10 days, according to resident Neera Ramcharan.
The pensioner described how she and her 98-year-old mother-in-law had lived in darkness, except for rooms that had a rechargeable hand-held light. To exacerbate her problems her boundary wall had collapsed and she feared for her safety.
“Nobody helped us. I had to throw so many items away including milk and vegetables. Who will reimburse me for my losses? I had to use a gas stove to boil water for bathing. We were uncertain when the lights would come on.”
Reservoir Hills Ratepayers Association chairperson Ish Praladh said volunteer plumbers and electricians took the initiative to repair water pipes and assisted electricians in the suburb.
Verulam resident Zarina Ally said her area did not have electricity for nine days and water for eight days.
“Everything in my fridge and freezer had to be thrown out. I feel heartsore. People need food out there and I am throwing away full chickens, sausages and polony because it went off. A very difficult time for KZN.”
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said more than 20 teams of contractors and in-house staff were working to ensure that power was restored in all affected areas.
This includes attending to a backlog of repairs recorded prior to the infrastructural damage caused by the floods. He said several sub-stations, and electrical equipment, were damaged or submerged in water causing further delays in the restoration of power throughout the week. In the northern region cable faults due to underground cable damage and overhead wires damaged during the floods were reported.
“The damage to infrastructure has caused recurring power outages in areas like Newlands, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, Inanda and uMhlanga.”
on Wednesday electricity supply had been restored in most parts of the region but areas like Phoenix, Verulam, Umzinyathi, and oThongathi are still experiencing power outages.
“A significant amount of electrical equipment was washed away during the floods. The Cottonlands area is inaccessible due to infrastructural damage of roads but teams are working on alternative methods to reach the area and work on restoring power.
“The Quarry Road sub-station was washed away and Pineside is currently inaccessible … Dassenhoek, Caversham are currently inaccessible, but teams are working on restoring power despite challenges of inaccessibility. Other affected areas include Tshelimnyama, Gillitts, Molweni and Waterfall.”
Mayisela said teams had found it challenging to access areas in the south like Mdumezulu because roads leading to the area have been washed away.
A significant amount of electrical equipment was submerged during the floods. Some equipment was irreparably damaged while other equipment had to dry before being used.
The south region also suffered a double cable fault and some of its sub-stations were damaged. Areas still affected by recurring outages include Merebank and Jacobs. Additional water tankers are being dispatched to the most impacted wards in eThekwini.
Mayisela said some of the much-needed additional tankers are part of a hired fleet, some were donated, and some were from other municipalities and government departments.
“More filling points for the fleet have also been made available to alleviate the challenge at some filling points that have dried up.”
Clare Estate Ratepayers Association spokesperson Navin Dookran said they were without power for a week.
He said a protection team was removing illegal connections when their vehicles were stoned by residents from an informal settlement.
“The sad thing is that paying consumers will have to suffer more days without power.”
Daily News