KEY POINTS
- About 100 Thomas Gamble residents blocked Kamesh Street after two weeks without electricity or water.
- Area 11 informal settlement protesters blocked the R334 demanding their homes be connected to electricity.
- Nelson Mandela Bay is tackling 1,105 active low-voltage cable and overhead line faults across communities.
Two Kariega communities in Nelson Mandela Bay hit the streets this week, done waiting for electricity and water that stopped coming weeks ago.
On Wednesday, about 100 residents from Thomas Gamble township blocked Kamesh Street near the office of ward 48 councillor Franay van der Linde. They had been without electricity and water for two weeks. Public Order Police eventually dispersed the crowd.
Resident Denzil Sampson, a father of five, said the outage had shut down his welding business. He and his neighbors were crossing into ward 49 and paying R30 to fill a bucket of water and R20 to charge their phones. “At night, it is dangerous because we live in a gang-infested area,” he said.
Jolene Booysen said residents had been promised a restoration that never came. “Most residents are elderly, frail and bedridden. We never took to the streets in this area before, but today we are saying, enough is enough,” she said.
Area 11 erupts a day later
Thursday brought a second flashpoint. Hundreds of protesters from the Area 11 informal settlement in ward 45 blocked the R334 with burning rubble, tires, stones and mattresses, demanding their homes be connected to electricity. Residents said an electrification project stalled last month with no update from the municipality since.
“The people are tired of seeing others having electricity,” resident Thabang Gqalane said.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe visited Kariega and addressed the community directly. “We are aware of challenges such as water and electricity, and we must work together because the government cannot provide everything. We have limitations,” she said.
What the municipality says
Nelson Mandela Bay spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the electricity and energy directorate is currently attending to 549 low-voltage cable faults and 556 low overhead line faults across various areas, a total of 1,105 active faults.
Soyaya attributed the situation to vandalism, theft of electrical infrastructure, adverse weather conditions, network overloading and pressure on aging electricity systems. Teams are working extended hours to reduce the impact, he said, acknowledging residents’ frustration directly.
The Kariega protests reflect a broader pattern of community action across South Africa as residents in underserved areas grow impatient with municipal delivery failures on basic services.
