Recent interruptions in the supply of electricity to homes in the eThekwini Municipality had the department stretched to its limits, as it sifted through 10,300 complaints on Tuesday.

Cable faults had caused power outages to homes for more than 24 hours in some parts of Durban following the recent weekend rainfall. Most of the power supply had been restored by Tuesday.

EThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the electricity unit had dealt with thousands of work requests logged using WhatsApp, the Mobile App and the City's call centre.

"However, a lot of these power outage reports are duplicates and we are working to identify the duplicates and linking them so that the job is closed on the system. Therefore, the backlog of 10,300 is not the true reflection of faults out there as some of the medium-voltage circuits, which affects thousands of customers, have all been restored," Sisilana said.

Reservoir Hills residents voiced their concerns about the inconvenience of power outages, some for 40 hours. Reservoir Hills and Clare Estate ward 23 councillor Alicia Kissoon informed residents that the department was prioritising faults that have persisted for over four days and those affecting larger areas. Kissoon said the fault backlog was extensive

“Due to limited repair teams and multiple medium-voltage faults, progress has been slow. I must reiterate that residents should not bear the brunt of these delays, and I have made it clear that a contingency plan is needed from senior management to ensure that affected areas receive urgent attention,” she said.

A Reservoir Hills resident who asked to be identified as Ash, said he had gone over 48 hours without electricity.

“When we call eThekweni, the same response is given; there's no one assigned to the reference, which affects many houses. Apart from the tremendous financial loss of food and health conditions of our elders, we now have safety concerns about food and health conditions of our elders,” he said.

Most of the residents complained on their community WhatsApp groups about spoiled food from refrigerators due to the prolonged outages.

In Bonela, residents relied on the assistance of the Community Policing Forum for updates on the repair to a cable on Monday.

Bonela resident Zohra Khan said all her items from the fridge had to be thrown away. Khan said many of the items were bought in preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Clare Estate resident Sumen Dees said to claim back for the loss of food items was impossible.

“I guess there is nothing that can be done, an. Who keeps receipts of things for months - this is food items in a freezer and as usual, we the ratepayers face the losses. This is the second week that we had a power outage for more than three days,” Dees said.

On Sunday night there was a problem with the main cable feed from Blaire Athol major Sub going to Hopson in Pinetown. There was a similar problem on Essenwood Road in Berea where cables had to be replaced. In Pinetown, councillor Melanie Brauteseth said the outage affected Westville North and Cowies Hill. Brauteseth said several electricity unit teams had converged in the area to speed up the repairs.

Isipingo ward 90 councillor Shad Nowbuth said two medium voltage cable faults were detected in Mahes Road.

“The cables are deep underground which is a challenge to expose so that repairs could commence. Another challenge was the inclement weather conditions,” he said.

The municipality apologised for the current power outages. The municipality stated that it was working to restore services. Despite challenges caused by wet terrain and storms, crews are prioritising repairs as follows:

Public safety hazards (low hanging conductors)

High voltage (large scale)
Medium voltage (suburb level)
Individual household faults

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za