Durban - Msunduzi Municipality has condemned attacks by members of the public on its staff members who were carrying out repairs on electricity infrastructure around the city.
This is after many areas of Pietermaritzburg experienced extended power outages prompting many residents to take to social media to vent their anger over the “unfortunate event” on the first day of the year.
Residents from different parts, including Ashdown, Edendale and Imbali townships, complained that their food had spoiled after a power outage which lasted all of Sunday.
The outage, allegedly caused by an explosion at a major power station in the KZN capital, forced residents to find alternatives in order to prepare food and have warm water.
Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize cited a range of problems as the cause of the outages, including ageing infrastructure, trees falling on overhead lines and private vehicles knocking down electricity poles.
“This had a negative impact on a number of customers in the following areas: Copesville, Whispers Water Pump Station in Wartburg Road, Willowton and Tucker roads, Mountain Rise, Roberts Road, Victoria Country Club, Montrose Drive, Lovedale Road, Cinderella Park, and parts of Northdale areas,” said Mkhize.
She conceded that while power in most of the areas was restored within a short period, in some areas the outages extended beyond 48 hours.
Mkhize expressed the city leadership’s disappointment with the attitude demonstrated by some members of the public towards municipal staff.
“The city manager, Lulamile Mapholoba, condemns violent attacks against employees while on duty. We are appealing to the members of the public to refrain from attacking employees attending to both water and electricity outages,” she added.
She said that teams – “who have been working around the clock to restore power to areas still affected” – were attacked by some members of the community in Cinderella Park area and council vehicles were badly damaged.
The attack had compelled the team to abandon repair work due to safety concerns and the incident has been reported to the police, she said.
“We urge the police and community leaders to rise to the occasion and act against such illicit behaviour which has instilled fear in our staff, failing which we will be forced to remove our staff from any hostile area,” Mkhize said.
The municipality apologised to the city’s residents for the inconvenience caused due to the outage, and thanked staff members for the “speed with which they have responded”.