Durban - A KWAMASHU family had a weekend from hell after their electricity was cut off, their lockdown food went off and they were threatened by police officers.
The large family living in KwaMashu E section said the electricity went off in their road on Saturday afternoon and that started a host of problems for them.
A family member, who feared for her safety and declined to be named, said while she was preparing to cook on Saturday afternoon, the electricity went off, affecting half the houses on their street.
“I called the eThekwini Municipality on Saturday and a contractor came out, checked and left. As they were leaving I asked them what was wrong and they said a cable had burnt. When I called the municipality again, they said they had a turnaround time of two to 24 hours,” she said.
It has been a trying three days for her family, especially because the food they had bought to take them through the 21-day lockdown had gone off.
“More than R6000 worth of food is rotting away in our fridges,” she said.
She also said there were meals they could not make because they did not have electricity and they no longer wanted to bother neighbours because the lockdown limited movement.
“Asking our neighbours if we could cook there was also a challenge. Sometimes the network is bad in the house and you have to stand outside the gate to get a good connection. But the police do not want us outside and said they would arrest us if we did not obey. We’re afraid and we don’t know what to do anymore,” she said.
“We don’t even have money to replace the food that’s rotting. Salaries and pensions went to buying food and medication for the lockdown. But when I was speaking to municipal officials they said they had ‘food insurance’ provided I produced receipts. I’ve called the insurance line but the calls go unanswered,” she said.
A councillor in the area said they received a call from a resident yesterday morning, raising the issue.
The resident gave the councillor a reference number and she forwarded it to the relevant department.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said their team was on site and electricity in the area should have been restored by the end of business
yesterday.
Mayisela also said if a resident could prove beyond reasonable doubt that the municipality was negligent, then the resident could lodge a
complaint.
According to the eThekwini municipality website, public liability cover is provided in respect of claims made against the council for damages consequent upon the actions or negligence of council employees or damage caused by council-owned assets.
Moreover, the public wishing to lodge a claim against the council for damage caused to themselves or their properties by council-owned assets or by council employees are required to submit a fully motivated claim using the applicable forms from the website.