A tilted electricity pole with low wires poses a great risk for an Ezibeleni resident who fears that the significantly leaning pole might cause an inferno.
“The cables are hanging near the top of my house and seven houses are connected to that pole. My fear is that if it falls down, my whole house will go up in flames. When there are strong winds I struggle to sleep because I am afraid of what might happen. The pole emits a funny sound which gives me sleepless nights,” said Nomakula Nyathi.
Nyathi said it was a matter of urgency but failed to understand why the municipality had not attended to her plea. “My worry is that there are children who play in the vicinity and whose lives are at risk. All I want is for this to be fixed immediately.”
She indicated that a woman who had assisted her at the municipal offices told her to write her details, including her home address, so that the matter could be attended to.
“I have reported this problem to our ward counsellor and the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM) offices. This is an ongoing matter and I have made numerous reports to the relevant bodies. People came in to fix some of the poles in the area and I informed the municipal workers, but they could not assist at that time because they said it was not on their list. No one has arrived yet.”
However, EMLM spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said there were no records of receipt of this incident at the customer call centre. “The Municipality does have a challenge of old electrict poles that need to be replaced. In 2020, electric poles in Ezibeleni were replaced but only those deemed critically damaged and hazardous were replaced. We encourage community members to report any such incidents to the municipal call centre. For this case, the matter has been reported to the technical team and members will be dispatched to asses and resolve it,” he said.
