\n\t\tDespite repeated updates by the municipality, residents say little progress has been made, while basic services remain unreliable more than a week into the crisis.\n\t<\/p>\n
Residents of East Lynne in Tshwane have been left frustrated and angry after enduring prolonged electricity outages since 26 December, followed by water disruptions that began this week, compounding already dire living conditions in the area.<\/p>\n
Despite repeated updates by the municipality, residents say little progress was made, while basic services remained unreliable for more than a week.<\/p>\n
\u2018We cannot live like this\u2019<\/p>\n
East Lynne resident Sandra van Wyk said households had been without electricity since Boxing Day, with water outages starting on Thursday after a burst main.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are without electricity from 26 December until today. And now we are without water as well. This is unacceptable. We cannot live like this,\u201d Van Wyk told The Citizen.<\/p>\n
\u201cResidents don\u2019t have the means to get a generator, \u00a0they don\u2019t have the means to buy R3 000 worth of fuel every day. People are suffering. They had to throw out food. They did not budget for this, nor did I,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
According to her, municipal teams initially repaired a burst water pipe, but the problem resurfaced shortly after supply was restored.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told residents yesterday that the pipe was fixed. When they opened the water, it started leaking again. Now they have to start all the work over. That\u2019s another 12 hours without water, on top of no electricity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The City of Tshwane on Saturday afternoon confirmed that the water supply had been restored.<\/p>\n
Residents counting the cost<\/p>\n
The prolonged outage had a severe financial impact on residents, particularly those without alternative power sources.<\/p>\n
Van Wyk added that she spent thousands of rands on fuel over several days to keep a generator running.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is money we never planned to spend. People are suffering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
ALSO READ: Cable theft blamed for Christmas Eve blaze at Olievenhoutbosch substation<\/a><\/p>\n WATCH: Councillor cites infrastructure failures, vandalism<\/p>\n Ward councillor Freddie Pienaar confirmed the outages, saying they stemmed from a combination of infrastructure failures and vandalism.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, there was a breakdown at a primary station, which caused the outage in the area and also affected neighbouring supply lines,\u201d Pienaar told The Citizen.<\/p>\n He said that while some sections had been restored, ongoing vandalism and multiple cable faults complicated the situation.<\/p>\n Mini-substation at Stegman and McLaren Road in East Lynne, Tshwane. Video: Supplied<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, there has been a lot of vandalism in the eastern areas. That has now become an ongoing problem, because we have to replace transformers and cables repeatedly,\u201d Pienaar said.<\/p>\n He acknowledged that the electricity outages also affected water supply, as pumping systems depend on power.<\/p>\n