EAST LONDON - East London residents have been plagued by persistent power cuts, with some lasting 24 hours or longer.
Buffalo City Metro Municipality (BCMM) resident Marlyn Delport says in December, the situation worsened, with outages stretching over two weeks.
As a result, many residents were forced to throw away food during the festive season after it spoiled.
READ | East London residents in the dark as cable theft continues
Delport says the situation is unacceptable, considering the rates residents are required to pay.
She also raised concerns about electricity basic service charges, saying residents were charged significantly more than those in other municipalities.
"This municipality brought in basic service charges on our accounts, which were around July 2024. If you have an electricity box on the pavement, from the R70 basic service charge, the very same month we were charged R760, while other municipalities were charged R200.
"East London Baffalo City dared to charge us R760, the highest charge for residents with the least service," Delport laments.
While authorities have pointed to criminal syndicates targeting electricity infrastructure in the metro, Delport questions why the problem has persisted for so long.
"Why does it carry on, and it never stops? They know that there is a criminal syndicate, we also know that it is obvious, but what are they doing about it?"
Also weighing in, DA councillor Sue Bentley criticised the municipality, arguing that BCMM is fully aware that its revenue protection unit is under-capacitated, yet has failed to address the issue.
The municipality has since confirmed in a statement that the latest power interruptions were caused by the theft and damage of an underground medium-voltage cable near the Amalinda Fish Farm.
According to BCMM, the incident forms part of a long-standing and ongoing criminal activity that has affected the area for several years.
The municipality condemned the vandalism, saying it is repeatedly forced to repair or replace stolen cables, resulting in frequent outages, financial losses, and inconvenience to residents and businesses.
BCMM says electrical teams have since completed repairs and that electricity supply has now been restored to all affected households and businesses.