“Our lives have come to a standstill due to powerfailure,” said extension 0 resident Karabo Mokoena, who has had no electricity in his yard since last month.
“This electricity crisis has added more misery to our lives,” he said. “I am working from home, but how could I work without electricity? How could I get paid without working? This totally shows how our lives are affected by power cuts.”
Last month, a transformer exploded in extension 0, affecting a portion of Oregon Crescent and Kansas Crescent. The residents have had no power whatsoever since the transformer exploded.
An electricity crisis has been hurting the community for the past month, with extensions 0, 5, 2, 6 and 4 mainly affected.
“We now know that power goes off every day,” said extension 5 resident Pabalo Mavundla. “It is so frustrating. It is also encouraging criminal activities at night. What is hurting is that some parts of the community are always having electricity.”
Due to the power failures, some residents have since relocated from the affected areas to the non-affected parts of the community.
Overloading is the main cause of load reduction in Cosmo City, according to Eskom.
“Residents of Cosmo City are urged to reduce their electricity usage by switching off non-essential appliances as their transformers are overloading,” reads part of the statement posted on Eskom Facebook Page @Eskom Hld SOC Ltd.
Eskom workers are currently doing an audit in the community in places where some residents had connected to the electricity network illegally.