Outages cripple business

RESIDENTS of Melton Gardens on the outskirts of Komani have expressed concern over the irregular electricity supply to the area.

One of the affected businesses is Tranquil House, a bed and breakfast situated on the road to Whittlesea about 4km from Komani.

Corne Roelofse said the constant outages, which had escalated over the past few months and which he believes may be due to illegal connections to the network resulting in overloading, were affecting the bed and breakfast negatively.

He said a couple had booked in recently and were unhappy as there had been no power for two days. They left without paying.

Roelofse said he contacted the municipality via e-mail to find out what was going on. He had raised the fact that the bed and breakfast paid for power but was consistently without it. He has had no response.

The location of the bed and breakfast also means that it can not rely on the supply of municipal water, and boreholes must be used to ensure a sustainable water supply. The lack of power was, however, affecting the pumps, leaving Tranquil House without water. Its only saving grace was a solar power system but the supply was not enough to meet the demand.

He said several electricians had tried to explain the problem to residents of the area, but it seemed outdated infrastructure and a lack of proper maintenance, coupled with overloading, were the main culprits.

Roelofse said there was an urgent need for Lukhanji Municipality to sort out the problem permanently.

Vivian Boboyi of the accommodation establishment Maiden Head has a similar view.

She said people were stealing electricity, leaving taxpayers and business owners to suffer.

“Sometimes we blame the municipality but it’s not always their fault.”

She believes that the solution is to appeal to the community to stop power theft.

Resident Morgan Catto has been living in the area for more than 18 months and said the problem had been prevalent since she moved in. “At random times of the evening, we’ll hear a loud bang and we know something’s blown and the electricity is going to go off.”

Catto has tried to report the outages but claims there is often no reply on the emergency number. She believes additional funds will have to be found to fund maintenance and repairs.

The affected area also includes vast areas of farmlands. Farm manager Graham Lord said equipment relied on electricity supply while the borehole pumps and irrigation system had been damaged by the power interruptions.

Lukhanji spokesman Gcobani Msindwana said routine maintenance had been carried out in the area last month. It was recently discovered that a relay in the power station needed repairs and the problem was receiving attention. The local authority’s five-year master plan would ensure the refurbishing of the electrical network to eliminate power outages in the future, he said.

Outages should be reported to the call centre in Owen Street on (045) 839-2181 or the technical services department on (045) 807-6000/01.