Residents of Grassy Park and Lotus River spent most of Women’s Day without electricity after a medium voltage cable was vandalised.
This prompted a lot of anger in the community as City of Cape Town teams trying to fix the problem were reportedly intimidated.
According to the City, power supply in the area was interrupted when thieves tried to steal the cables.
Beverley van Reenen, Mayco member for energy, said the City attended to the power outage on Tuesday 9 August where someone reportedly tried to steal a cable.
“A medium voltage cable was cut in an apparent attempt to steal it. This caused the supply to be off in the areas of Grassy Park, Lotus River and surrounds.”
However, as City contractors tried to repair the cable, they were reportedly threatened which hampered efforts to restore the power supply.
“The City condemns the attacks and intimidation of electricity staff and contractors while on duty in communities. While the teams were working tirelessly to restore the supply, they were intimidated by the community of Lotus River. The police and law enforcement were asked to assist and calm the situation.”
She said it was illegal to obstruct the service delivery work of staff and contractors.
“The city urges members of the community to allow City teams to complete their duties without violence or intimidation, to the benefit of the whole community.
“While the City remains committed to providing services to all areas in the metro, the safety of members of staff and contractors remains of utmost consideration.”
Van Rheenen urged residents to report perpetrators to the police.
“We cannot allow criminals to hold our communities hostage any longer. Some areas in the metro are severely impacted by incidents of electricity theft and vandalism and the electricity infrastructure in these areas often needs to be repaired and replaced.
“When our staff and contractors are attacked and intimidated, residents are impacted the most as staff often need to withdraw from the area.”
Meanwhile residents reacted to the power outage on social media.
Jenny Marsh commented: “I cannot understand the mentality of people who prevent your guys from doing their job! They’re obviously too stupid to understand that if the work isn’t done, no electricity!”
Esmeralda September commented that the power outage was very frustrating.
“The power outage happened before midnight so it seems the City waited until this morning to tend to the problem. We have been without electricity for 14 hours now, and no way the City will be replacing spoilt food.”
While Val Kimpton wrote: “Thanks to the team who went out to restore the power. You are appreciated.”
