Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Werner Pretorius MPL, and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng. See attached pictures here, here, and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested an urgent meeting with the Acting CEO of Centlec to address concerns of prolonged power outages in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM) and ensure measures are put in place to prevent future occurrences.
This past weekend, residents were again affected by power outages, with some waiting up to 5 days for electricity to be restored. We believe this is a clear case of poor planning, failed preventative maintenance and mismanagement by Centlec.
With adverse weather warnings issued well in time, Centlec should have taken proactive measures to mitigate the impact by ensuring sufficient teams are on hand to address interruptions. During this period, the call centre was also not functioning properly, leaving residents struggling to get assistance and resulting in logged calls being closed without resolution. The DA received a high volume of complaints from residents about Centlec’s lack of response when logging complaints, as well as feedback on responses.
Regular maintenance, including pruning of trees that could potentially damage cables, is vital to ensure the infrastructure can withstand adverse weather conditions. Instead, Centlec’s neglect has had a severe impact on the lives and livelihoods of Mangaung residents and businesses alike.
A stable electricity grid network is vital to a City that works for its residents, ensuring economic growth and social progress. Our pledge to voters in the upcoming local government elections is a stable electricity network that ensures Mangaung can work!