By Fahdia Msaka
Strong winds over the weekend of 29 and 30 April disrupted daily life, caused significant damage to properties, and posed serious safety problems for residents in Hlalani, Newtown Extension and Extension Six.
Grocott’s Mail visited Nobuntu Nombombo at her home in Newtown Extension. Her harrowing experience began in the early hours of 30 April. Nombombo recalls, “We heard the roof flying off at 3 am on Sunday”. The force of the strong winds tore away the roof, leaving their home completely exposed. For the safety of her children and grandchildren, she evacuated to her daughter’s flat, located in the backyard.
Nombombo and her family have been without electricity ever since. Now on their sixth day without electricity, they have contacted both Eskom and the municipality to reconnect them but have not yet been attended to. The family has taken it upon themselves to replace the damaged roof from their own pockets.
Makana Municipality’s communications department said the winds had damaged infrastructure and left several areas without power.
“Reports of roofs being blown away, broken trees and cables have been reported locally and
the municipality is trying to attend to the incidents as quickly as possible. In one of our
substations, the roof was blown away. In a number of streets, trees have fallen over electrical
cables, but the electricity department is currently clearing the trees” said the Municipality.
Roofs had been blown away and power outages had occurred in Stones Hill, Sunnyside, Sidgefield, Nel, Fletcher, Oglivia, Fitzroy, Oatlands North, Rockridge, Industrial Area, Fingo Village, Curry Street, Joza, Vukani, Extension 6, and Worcester Street, the Municipality added.
The municipality encouraged residents are encouraged to report electricity problems to Eskom on 0860 037 566 and municipality-related issues on 046 603 6111.
