Johannesburg - Angry residents at the Munyaka Waterfall Estate have staged a protest after enduring power outages for a fourth consecutive day, but Balwin Properties says it is not their fault, blaming Eskom.
Balwin Properties CEO Steve Brookes said Munyaka residents were wrongfully blaming them for the outages instead of taking their fight to Eskom.
“We are astounded that residents are blaming these electrical faults on Balwin, instead of placing pressure on Eskom to fix the problem,” said Brookes.
In videos shared on social media, the angry residents of the luxury lifestyle estate were seen blocking all entrance and exit points of the estate on Thursday morning. They complained that they had not been without power since Sunday evening.
Twitter user @Roeland Mvokwe said “@BalwinProp U have taken us for fools for far too long…. Munyaka is now stand still we can’t work, no power for 4 days”
@BalwinProp U have taken us for fools for far too long…. Munyaka is now stand still we can’t work, no power for 4 days pic.twitter.com/afWEGfGMOg
— Roeland Mvokwe (@Roeland_Kyllex) May 18, 2023
This is what a peaceful protest looks like at Munyaka “luxury” estate 💀💀💀
Ratatata!!! Get it together @BalwinProp pic.twitter.com/4wMh74inrB
Residents are calling out the company for poor services and not caring as they experience the ongoing power outage.
Balwin properties which owns the luxury and lifestyle estate which offers a wide range of luxury apartments and a beachside-living experience with their lagoon located in Munyaka’s crown has said that the latest power outage which left residents without power was beyond their control.
“Eskom has confirmed that the fault at their Buccleuch substation has been affecting the Buccleuch and Munyaka areas since Sunday evening. It appears that there is a cable fault on Muller Street in Buccleuch which has been identified as the issue,” said Brookes.
Residents have also expressed that issues of this kind occur quite frequently and given what it costs to live in this high-end estate with apartments which start at R999 900, this is unacceptable.
TikTok user @kimarathavar said, “The amount of times @balwinprop Munyaka “luxury estate” does not have water and /or electricity is inhumane. The money residents pay to get this! Currently on 4 days without electricity and excuses from management have been rolling. There’s insufficient effort from @balwinprop to ensure the same electricity problem does not occur this many times.“
In the wake of this crisis, the company is urgently investigating the feasibility of installing generators for backup power at Munyaka and once this is finalised, this will be presented to the residents’ committee, however the installation of a generator will come at a cost to the residents’ association and will increase monthly cost of electricity for residents based on their usage.
“Although Balwin is not the power utility, we continue to invest substantial resources in placing Eskom under pressure to repair their defective infrastructure and avoid these constant and frustrating unplanned outages.”
Residents were still gathered at the entrance and exit points although it seems that power has since been restored as communicated by the Balwin properties to residents.
IOL