The horrible dark week that Laudium residents experienced from last Tuesday (Mar 15) evening until this past Wednesday evening (Mar 23) had also left residents in Erasmia without power.
In addition to the power outages, there was another incident of cable theft last Saturday evening, in the Erasmia area, which was discovered in the early hours of Sunday morning. Erasmia residents, along with their Laudium counterparts, also had to endure dark and cold nights, as striking municipal workers apparently threatened non-striking workers who were prepared to attend to the replacing of the cables. The latest theft occurred at the corner of Liesching and Barbara Coetzer Streets in Erasmia.
Erasmia resident, Ismail Essa (Smiley) told the Laudium Sun, “The recent sabotage of electric cables, clearly points out that we as a community need to stand united to act against any harm to the community. We need all law abiding residents to assist each other during these times. There are talks that poor service delivery and lawlessness will increase. I hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, the community should be prepared to act, but within the laws of the country.”
Aboobaker Manjra, of Erasmia, a teacher at the Tshwane Muslim School, told the Laudium Sun, “The thieves stole cables from an electric pole near our home. This is so frustrating that we have been without lights for so many days. Although we reported it so many times, there was nothing that could be done, due to the intimidation by striking council workers. All our food kept in the fridge had gone rotten. Due to the fasting month approaching, many of us started stocking up on frozen food items, but now it all had to be thrown away. Those who have generators had to pay so much for petrol just to keep the generators running. Many people could not go to work, due to being unable to have a bath. Also, many of the elderly and sick had to endure so much hardship. I do not understand why extra police or even the army was not called to stop the striking workers or thieves from sabotaging the power supply.”
Another Erasmia resident, Goolam Hoosen, of Liesching Str, Erasmia, said, “This power outage was very frustrating and caused a lot of inconvenience, not forgetting a crime risk. But what could we do, if we complain no one listens to us, it’s like we call and talk to the wall. I don’t understand why are we even paying for electricity, because half the time we don’t have electricity, either due to load shedding or cable theft. We are suffering day in and day out with this problem. We have a councillor who is trying very hard to serve the community to the best of his ability, but unfortunately he cannot do much, as the problem is bigger, it is political.”
