Eight-day power blackout hits Pretoria. Picture: iStock Many residents in parts of Pretoria have been without power for eight days and counting as the City of Tshwane struggles to deal with a backlog of outages following a massive storm at the beginning of the month. Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson said he only had hope left that the power would be restored to parts of his ward after being off for more than a week in some parts.
“It seems we are still dealing with the chaos, frustration and disappointment that comes with no power, no plan communicated and no timelines shared. As always I am escalating, re-escalating and re-re-escalating in the hope that someone, somewhere, hears me,” he said. Wilkinson said he was in the same boat as his residents, without power.
“At this point, prayer, hope, or wishes might be our only backup power supply,” he added. Prinshof School for the blind was also still without power despite lodging multiple complaints of a power outage, Wilkinson said. On 5 December, power in the area was briefly restored at 5.15pm but went off by 11.15pm and has been off since.
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Wilkinson said the school has used over 600l of diesel to power the hostels and kitchens and added pupils had to be sent home early due to the power challenges. A resident, Carla du Preez, said in previous years, this ward was a sought-after residential area but now, when the wind blows, or it rains hard, or there is severe lightning, the power outages start. “I think there are too many trees that are poorly pruned and that are touching overhead wires. That is most likely one of the causes of frequent outages and extremely dangerous conditions with sparks flying.
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