DURBAN - AGEING infrastructure and cable theft are the cause of constant power outages in the Glenwood, Umbilo and other surrounding areas within the eThekwini Municipality.
This was revealed by the city's electricity unit, which said it was working on the issue.
Over the past few months, Durban residents from these suburbs have experienced a succession of power outages apart from the rotational load shedding which has plagued the country.
Residents complained that due to power outages they have suffered damages to appliances and they feared they could be targeted by criminals. They accused the city of failing to notify them of planned outages.
Numerous complaints were sent, the residents said, but no detailed response was received from the city officials.
City spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said: “The cause has been medium voltage cable faults due to various factors. We experienced medium voltage cable damages due to excavations in the area as well as the odd theft and vandalism.”
Despite the constant outages, Mayisela maintained that the existing electrical infrastructure was adequate.
He said the routine maintenance was in progress and repairs to equipment failures have been ongoing.
“The Glenwood Major substation has just been upgraded from 6.6 kV to 11 kV. The Bulwer Park major substation is being constructed and will be commissioned in June 2020, however, this will cater for future growth,” Mayisela added.
Resident Annette Lee, said they lost power for between three hours and up to 16 hours per day.
A Restaurant and Bar owner, Elizabeth Smith, said although the situation has improved slightly, businesses were hampered by outages.
"Whenever there were outages I had to close because we have no other alternatives, we deal with volumes of patrons it impossible to stay open when there is no power," she said.
Glenwood Councillor Mmabatho Tembe said she had received complaints of frequent power outages mostly affecting appliances.
She said as concerned residents they have called on the municipality to dedicate sufficient budget to replace ageing water and electricity infrastructure in the next financial year.
“The city’s response mostly was to look at the outages on an individual basis as MV faults are different. But nothing concrete as to say something will be done about it,” she said.