Naturena, Johannesburg, Gauteng — Angry residents in the southern suburbs have initiated a fierce Naturena power outage protest, burning tires and blockading roads to demand the immediate return of electricity. The unrest, driven by deep frustration over a multi-day loss of power, has directly interfered with ongoing municipal repair operations and prompted urgent appeals from local authorities.
Residents Frustrated by Prolonged Service Delivery Failures
Demonstrators took to the streets to express their anger over the extended blackout, with some residents claiming they have been without power for three and a half days. Community members highlighted the severe disruption to their daily lives, noting that food, including meat, has spoiled in refrigerators.
Protesters also voiced grievances about billing inequalities, pointing out that they continue to pay for electricity and water in Naturena while residents in neighboring areas like Freedom Park reportedly do not. Furthermore, locals expressed exhaustion over a recurring pattern of power cuts that frequently occur on Fridays and last for days, citing a lack of engagement from the local council.
City Power Explains the Technical Faults
Addressing the crisis, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena clarified the technical challenges that have kept the area in the dark. According to Mangena, the outage began on a Tuesday evening due to a complex double fault involving both an underground cable and an overhead cable on the same run.
Repair teams managed to fix the initial issues by Wednesday and were prepared to restore power. However, just as they were about to flip the switch, a third fault was discovered on the exact same cable. This required technicians to spend the following day exposing the cable and conducting further repairs.
Mangena noted that the community’s decision to burn tires and block the streets around 18:00 severely hindered the final stages of the repair process. The roadblocks prevented the night shift from entering the area and blocked the delivery of essential materials. Despite these setbacks, Mangena confirmed that teams have since returned to the site to finalize repairs and conduct testing before restoring the power.
Widespread Outages and Safety Concerns in Pimville
The infrastructure challenges are not isolated to Naturena. Mangena confirmed that several other regions are experiencing severe outages, including Pimville, where residents have also taken to the streets to block roads near the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital area.
The Pimville outage, which has lasted roughly two and a half days, was caused by a high-voltage cable fault. This issue has affected residents in Pimville Extension 9, and parts of Naturena Park, and local golf club estates. Mangena revealed that repair teams had to be temporarily withdrawn from the Pimville site due to safety threats, including attempts by protesters to detain the technicians. He appealed to the Naturena community to avoid similar actions, warning that City Power would not hesitate to pull its teams out of areas where their safety cannot be guaranteed.
The Communication Gap
A major point of contention between the municipality and the community is the perceived lack of communication regarding the outages. Residents argue they have been left in the dark about the causes and expected resolution times.
In response, Mangena defended City Power’s communication strategy, stating that the utility dispatches updates every two hours via WhatsApp groups coordinated with councilors, as well as through public WhatsApp channels accessible to all residents. He also personally recorded and distributed a voice note to explain the step-by-step repair process and plead with residents not to block the streets.
Mangena emphasized the technical realities of diagnosing cable faults, explaining that it is nearly impossible to provide an exact timeline for restoration. Locating a fault can require technicians to walk up to 10 kilometers along a cable route, meaning repairs could take anywhere from a few hours to several days. He stressed that the only update residents ultimately want to hear is that the lights are back on, but the physical realities of underground cable repairs require patience and clear access for the repair teams.
