Tsakani Ward 82 residents block roads in protest over prolonged power cuts

Residents of First Stop Section in Tsakani Ward 82 blocked streets with burning tyres and rocks on 28 September after reporting a lengthy power cut the evening before. According to The Citizen (African Reporter), community members said the outage ran from 17:00 to 23:30 on 27 September, prompting protests and demands for a restoration schedule.

What happened

Protestors blocked roads and lit tyres, placing large rocks in streets to draw attention to repeated interruptions to the electricity supply. They demanded to be addressed by the ward councillor and an Eskom representative and sought a clear timetable for power restoration, The Citizen (African Reporter) reported.

Voices from the community

Residents described the impact of the outages on daily life.

“I buy R500 worth of electricity monthly just for me not to enjoy it. The units are few, it does not last and worst, they take it at any time,”

said Lizberth Dlamini (86), per The Citizen (African Reporter). She added that outages make it difficult for elders to take medication on time.

Response from local officials

Ward Councillor Henry Buitendacht attended the protest to hear residents’ concerns. According to The Citizen (African Reporter), he organised Eskom representatives to listen and said he would engage Eskom to seek a solution. Buitendacht told residents he would “revert back to the community with factual information.”

The councillor selected community representatives to accompany him to the Community Customer Centre as witnesses during engagement on the matter, The Citizen (African Reporter) said.

Next steps and unanswered questions

A follow-up meeting was scheduled for 17:00 on 28 September to provide feedback to residents, according to The Citizen (African Reporter). The cause and wider extent of the outages were not detailed in that report, and no independent statement from Eskom was included in the article.

Photographs

The original report included photos credited to Nomsa Ngubeni and Nokuthula Hlongwane, per The Citizen (African Reporter).

Further developments, official technical explanations or statements from Eskom were not provided in the source material.