Angry residents in parts of Randburg have been told to expect prolonged power cuts after technicians from Joburg City Power reported they were locked out from a switching station.
Most parts of South Africa have been load shedding free for over 25 days as power utility Eskom remarkably is able to meet demand.
But some areas have been affected by unplanned and routine outages.
One of these areas were the Randburg suburbs including Bromhof, Sonneglans, Northwold and surrounding areas, which suffered a sudden power outage at about 10pm on Saturday night.
City Power assured residents through a public statement on the same evening that it would dispatch a team and apologized for the inconvenience caused.
However, by 9am on Sunday morning, City Power remarkably gave residents an update, saying they were unable to access the switching station as they did not have the keys.
“Hummer Switching Station tripped last night. It is affecting customers in Sonneglans, Northwold,Strijdompark, Bromhof ,and neighbouring vicinities.
“The team is currently on site, and access is hindered,which now means that the team can not conduct investigations,” said City Power at 9.08am on Sunday.
#CityPowerUpdates#RandburgSDC
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) April 21, 2024
Randburg Outage Update
Date: 21 April 2024
Time: 09h10
Hummer Switching Station: Tripped last night. It is affecting customers in Sonneglans, Northwold,Strijdompark, Bromhof ,and neighboring vicinities.
The team is currently on site, and access… pic.twitter.com/CBW50m8RQx
This understandably drew furious responses from residents who offered to bring their own bolt cutters to allow technicians onto the site, while others went through the call centres and found out through call centre agents who was responsible for the handling of the switching station keys.
Another user noted: “There is another entrance 100m away from that one. That is open!
“I was told at 4am this morning repairs are underway, at 7am they were en-route and now they can’t even access their own station,” wrote an angry Aimy.
There is another entrance 100m away from that one. That is open!!!!!!
— Aimy M (@aimy_main) April 21, 2024
“Wow @CityPowerJhb yet again, you cease to amaze us all,” wrote another Aimee.
Wow @CityPowerJhb yet again, you cease to amaze us all.
— Aimée Joy (@AimzJoy) April 21, 2024
“Have you gained access, surely you have the contact details for this, or know of another way to get in to access your property?
“This is not a good reason, it's been over 12 hours. Please urgently resolve,” wrote a Kim van Melsen.
Have you gained access, surely you have the contact details for this, or know of another way to get in to access your property? This is not a good reason, it's been over 12 hours. Please urgently resolve.
— Kim Van Melsen (@KimMelsen) April 21, 2024
“We will replace the chain and lock please just put our electricity on please man,” pleaded Leandra Gouws.
We will replace the chain and lock 🔐 please just put our electricity on please man
— Leandra Gouws (@gouws_leandra) April 21, 2024
“I can personally come and cut the lock if that’s what the issue is,” wrote Brendan Campbell.
I can personally come cut the lock if that’s what the issue is!!!
— Brendan Campbell (@Brendscam14) April 21, 2024
Over four hours later, at 12:50pm on Sunday afternoon, City Power reported technicians had now gained access and were now inside the switching station.
Other suburbs currently experiencing power outages include Weltevredenpark in Roodepoort, which suffered a multi-day power outage just last week, and Lenasia, Reuven, Johannesburg, Parktown, Berea, and nearby areas.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said City Power.
IOL