Nemato residents blame power surge for damaged appliances
SIPHELELE NDZAMELA
A MYSTEROUS power surge damaged electrical appliances in at least 79 Nemato homes last week.
Residents reported the surge happened overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, but some residents only discovered their appliances had been damaged on Friday morning.
All kinds of appliances and electronic equipment were affected, from TVs and DSTV decoders to fridges and microwaves. Light bulbs also blew.
| FRUSTRATED: Nobengazi Mvumbi with her TV, DVD, kettle and light bulbs that she claims were damaged during a power surge last week. She was one nearly 80 Nemato residents who reported their electrical appliances had been damaged Picture: SIPHELELE NDZAMELA |
As well as calling Eskom to complain, residents also reported the matter to Ward 9 councillor, Skura Venene, who alerted Talk of the Town.
Venene told TotT he had been in contact with an Eskom official who told him that each household should write down a list of their damaged appliances. Thereafter a quotation would be done to determine the costs needed to repair or replace these appliances.
On Sunday Venene met with affected community members at Eluxolweni Church where they discussed and looked for ways to resolve this matter.
Nobengazi Mvumbi said she noticed something was wrong while she was watching Muvhango last Wednesday which airs around 9pm.
"I heard a squeaking sound from the meter box and it started smelling like something was burning,” said Mvumbi.
"I went to check the meter box then when I came back my TV and light bulbs had burst.”
Every time they changed the light bulbs, it was not long before they blew again.
Residents said a man visited their homes on Monday to take photos of the damaged appliances and he also took details of the person who was at home at the time.
Residents believed the man was an Eskom official or someone appointed by Eskom to go house-to-house to get quotations for repairing these appliances.
Another resident, Edward Koleka, said both his TV and DVD player were affected.
"It's sad to have to sit and stare at a TV that is not working,” Koleka said.
Thamsanqa Jobela, a veteran activist in the Nemato community, also experienced damage to two TVs, a washing machine, his DSTV, microwave, CPU and light bulbs. He was very impressed with Venene's response to the incident.
Jobela said there had been further electrical problems this week.
"On Tuesday the electricity went totally off in some of the houses including mine,” he explained.
"As a community we spend an awful lot of money on electricity and to have a power failure like this without a single notice is terrible.”
"There's a problem with the electricity supply in this area.”
Jobela added it was costly calling Eskom for assistance as they keep you waiting on the line for a long time. He suggested an sms line should be introduced cost-efficient alternatives for reporting these incidents.
Eskom spokeswoman Ntombekhaya Mafumbatha told TotT Eskom was not aware of any damages to appliances.
She that there was planned maintenance on the Eskom network on Wednesday and Thursday last week that was carried out within the stipulated time.
"On Friday there was a fault on a high voltage transformer in the area and it was sorted within four-and-a-half hours after our technician were dispatched,” says Mafumbatha.
"Eskom informs customers in advance of any planned outage when maintenance is to be carried out on the network in order to prepare themselves.”
