Work under way to restore power to Munyaka estate in Waterfall: Balwin

Balwin Properties says Eskom is working to restore power at its plush Munyaka estate in Waterfall, Midrand, which has been without power since Sunday, as it blamed the outage on a fault at the utility's Buccleuch substation.

Munyaka, whose apartments are described as just metres away from a “crystal-clear lagoon”, topped the trends list on Thursday after residents took to social media to complain about the prolonged blackout.

Videos and pictures emerged on Twitter showing residents apparently congregating at the estate's entrance during the power cut.

Balwin Properties CEO Steve Brookes explained the reason for the lengthy power cut at Munyaka and why a neighbouring estate, also owned by Balwin, had not been affected. 

“Eskom has confirmed that the fault at their Buccleuch substation has been affecting the Buccleuch and Munyaka areas since Sunday evening. It appears that there is a cable fault on Muller Street in Buccleuch.

“The neighbouring Kikuyu estate is supplied by another substation and is not affected by the fault at the Buccleuch substation. We remain in constant contact with Eskom and continue to place pressure on them to expedite their repairs as much as possible.”

Brookes denied claims the estate was also experiencing water cuts,  saying any prior water cuts were due to vandalism of a mini substation at the Grand Central reservoir pump station during load-shedding.

Munyaka's issues follow months after The Blyde Riverwalk residents in Pretoria also complained of long-lasting power cuts at the upmarket private estate.

The estate, which also has its own lagoon, was Tshwane’s darling property development when it was officially launched in 2018.

Problems started a year later when criminals targeted the area for cable theft, resulting in residents living in the dark for hours. This also affected the Greencreek and Savannah country estates. 

Brookes denied Munyaka was following in The Blyde's footsteps, saying the reasons for the outages at the two estates were different and that plans were under way to “prevent future theft or vandalism” at the latter.

While he confirmed that the materials needed to finalise repairs were on site and that Eskom was working to restore power, Brookes said the company had already brought a generator to the estate to keep the gatehouse operational.

“We are urgently investigating the feasibility of installing generators for backup power at Munyaka, which will be presented to the residents’ committee for consideration as this comes at a cost.

“Though Balwin is not the power utility, we continue to invest substantial resources in placing Eskom under pressure to repair their defective infrastructure and avoid these constant and frustrating unplanned outages.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.