Despite promises from Premier Panyaza Lesufi that electricity would be restored to numerous households by Christmas Day in the Ivory Park area, many families continue to face prolonged power outages.
The Gauteng government’s efforts to address the energy crisis, including the Transformer Replacement Programme, have not produced the desired results.
The Transformer Replacement Programme, also known as Siya Transformer, has faced severe setbacks, leaving a significant number of households without power.
Lesufi’s engagement with the Ivory Park community on Sunday, November 26th regarding the Energy Response Plan, aimed at reconnecting communities to the grid, has seemingly fallen very short of expectations. Ironically, more households have had no electricity since Lesufi’s visit in the area.
Despite promises, the execution of the plan has been questioned due to its reliance on a provincial level of authority. Electricity remains a national competency, managed by entities like Eskom and City Power. Following Lesufi’s recent community engagement, only a single transformer was activated in Ivory Park, failing to address the multitude of failed transformers in Ivory Park, Kaalfontein, and Ebony Park.
This has resulted in further power outages affecting several households, with no explanation provided by Eskom, City Power, or the Gauteng Government. The current situation is made worse by the implementation of Stage 6 and Stage 5 Load Shedding nationwide.
Efforts to obtain clarity or answers from the government and power utilities regarding the prolonged power outages have remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
It is clear that the Transformer Replacement Programme is nothing but an ANC election campaign.
