Simmering tensions in Driftsands spilled over to Old Faure Road on Thursday evening 10 February as outraged residents vented their frustration.
Residents, largely youth, barricaded the busy road with burning tyres and other objects demanding an immediate reinstatement of electricity to their neighbourhood. Motorists were forced to seek alternative routes with traffic in and around the area grinding to a halt. Angry residents chanted and sang while breaking bottles in the road.
Residents said they have been without electricity for nearly a week. In certain households they claimed electricity worked but owners could not connect or use their appliances.
According to residents, the problem began on Saturday 5 February, after the power utility Eskom implemented loadshedding. Since then, they have not had electricity.
Residents complained that the power failure created a financial burden for them. They did not only loose their frozen items, but had to spend additional cash on fast foods.
A livid Ntombesizwe Mqhayi said they noticed two days after the loadshedding that their area was dark, while nearby communities had electricity.
She told City Vision they reported the matter to Eskom but could not get the electricity fixed.
“This occurred just after the end of the month, where people stock food for the entire month. All that food had to be thrown away because of this electricity matter. So, as the community we met and decided a way forward so that this issue can be addressed,” said Mqhayi.
She urged the power utility to also provide electricity to the nearby informal settlements. She said due to some illegal connections their power supply was affected with constant blackouts.
Buhle Mbodle, secretary of the Driftsands Youth Development Initiative, said they had to use heaters to cook.
“We know to get attention or be noticed in this country one needs to be radical. And we decided to stop traffic because people’s emotions were already high with electricity issue for almost a week,” said Mbodle.
Mfuleni police spokesperson WO November Filander said they received a report that on Thursday evening around 20:00, a group of about 50 people had gathered at Old Faure Road in Driftsands, because their electricity was off for a “period of time”.
“Police were called in and spoke with the crowd and around 21:00 they dispersed peacefully. On Saturday, 12 February around 15:00 Saps and Law Enforcement officials went with Eskom to Driftsands to reconnect the electricity cables,” he said.
“All was in order afterwards. No cases were registered, or arrests made,” said Filander.