Residents face danger and hunger during 21-day outage

Residents of the Airport Valley informal settlement in Walmer say they are living in fear of armed cable thieves who target power lines during the extended electricity outage.

Cable thieves have disrupted the already limited load reduction schedule, plunging Airport Valley into prolonged darkness.

They target the network overnight, cutting lines and undoing any temporary restoration.

A third pylon collapsed in Nelson Mandela Bay, cutting power to a large part of the city.

Besides the extra expense of having to buy paraffin and candles, Nobulumko Bailey, a mother of three, said her family could not even leave their house at night anymore for fear of being attacked by young men allegedly using drugs.

Bailey said life had been tough since the electricity outage started last Thursday.

“Every single day we hear people being robbed outside, especially when it is dark,” she said.

“These youngsters are using drugs, and when the electricity goes off, they start their work. They cut cables the whole night.”

Bailey said that if residents went outside at night, they would get robbed.

“We are too scared to leave our house to go to the toilet, so we are forced to use the bucket system.”

Bailey said the extra costs her family had incurred during the power outage had made life difficult.

“My husband earns R710 per week. With all of these extra things, the money will be done by Sunday,” she said.

“We have to use candles, which cost R5 each. We have four rooms. So that is R20 every day just for candles.”

“My oldest son is in high school and it is exam week, so he has to study with a candle.

“We can’t buy anything for the fridge, so my children have to go to school with an empty stomach. I must then give them R5 to buy something to eat for lunch.”

Bailey said the rotational power schedule made it difficult to predict when electricity would be available, with supply often restored at 4am, too early for her to prepare breakfast for her children.

“We are struggling. The fridge is empty,” she said.

“If you want to buy meat, you can buy it, but then you have to cook it now.

“We have to use paraffin to cook with, and normally we use five litres for two days, but now we have to survive on one litre for two days because we don’t have enough money.

“That one litre is only enough to cook rice and a little bit of meat.

“Today I used the paraffin to warm up water to wash my baby, so now I have to wait for my husband to come home to make a fire before we can cook again.

“The problem with a fire is that it is windy, and these houses are close to each other, so making a fire to warm water and cook food is dangerous. It’s not right.”

Bailey said she did not know how her family would make it to day 21 without power.

The municipality has given a 21-day restoration timeframe.

“Things are not looking good. We are spending too much money; we can’t keep up.”

Another resident in Airport Valley, Akhona Siyengo, said she and her family lived in fear of the cable thieves at night.

“Most of the time, we don’t have electricity at all,” she said.

" There are places [in Walmer Township] that have not had anything for two weeks.

“We get two hours once a day, but the rest of the time it is off.

“This is giving us a lot of problems because Airport Valley has crime.

“When it’s dark, anything can happen. It’s risky for us.

“When people come from work, the streets are dark. Safety is a very big issue.

“Usually we hear a few screams at night, but this week everyone has been too scared to leave their homes, so it’s been a bit quieter.

“Most of the toilets [in Airport Valley] are outside of people’s yards, so going to the toilet at night is not an option for any of us.

“Obviously, you are going to use your phone as a torch when going to the bathroom, so these thieves are waiting to rob you.

“This rotational schedule makes things difficult for us. We never know when it is going to come on.

“Sometimes it’s two hours, sometimes it’s only 30 minutes. It is really frustrating.

“Sometimes we forget to switch everything off, and when the electricity comes back on, then our appliances break.”

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said cable theft remained a serious concern in the city.

“It disrupts essential services and affects entire communities.

“The police are addressing this crime through ongoing operations; however, community assistance is crucial,” she said.

“Residents are urged to report any suspicious activities, such as tampering with infrastructure or possession of suspected stolen cables.”

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