A community in Delft South say they have been without a consistent electricity supply for over a month, which is making life extremely difficult.
Priscilla Leemon says her home in Amandel Street has been without electricity since Sunday but she and her neighbours have been left in the dark more often than not since the first week of April.
“Our electricity is more off than on for over a month and there is no indication that things will get fixed,” she says.
“The people who live in the areas close by are stealing electricity, and that damages the boxes in the area so it affects our electricity.
“When we have loadshedding then the power stays off for days instead of hours and we are just left to sukkel here in our homes.”
Due to the lack of electricity, Priscilla said she has been unable to stock up her fridge, which has led to her spending more money.
“I have to keep my food in my neighbour’s fridge which means I must give them money and I must also buy in small amounts because they mos also have their food plus some of the neighbours’.
“There are also very few houses with warm water and we have a lot of elderly or sick people so they need to be able to properly wash themselves.
“The cellphone service has also been affected in the area and one night we could not get hold of emergency services, so I had to deliver the neighbour’s baby myself.”
The 52-year-old resident added she made multiple calls to Eskom to try and get some sort of help but her pleas have fallen on deaf ears while she has also asked her local ward councillor for help.
Ward 24 councillor Pumla Tause said she and her committee have been in contact with Eskom in order to find a solution while the electricity service company’s spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said “the matter is being looked into”.