Frustrated Emfuleni Residents Demand Action

Repeated and continued power outages caused by poor maintenance have left residents with few options

Vanderbijlpark, 30 June 2025

Tens of thousands of households and countless businesses under the jurisdiction of the Emfuleni Local Municipality have once again recently been plunged into darkness.

Owing to poor maintenance, a number of electric substations have caught fire, which is a phenomenon that residents of this municipality, and indeed the people South Africa as a whole, are all too familiar with.

While some suburbs of Vanderbijlpark and the surrounding areas have been without electricity for many consecutive days, in some localities these outages have lasted for weeks.

A common occurrence during the months of winter, residents have finally decided to initiate further action of their own accord to address this all too predictable situation.

A petition, which at time of writing already had more than a thousand signatures, is being circulated on social media, with the social media hashtag #EnoughIsEnoughVaal being used to coordinate efforts and keep in touch with interested users.

View the petition at change.org

With constituents of this municipality unable to reach the mayor, the situation has escalated, with the Public Protector of South Africa confirming that they are evaluating a case on the grounds that these repeated service interruptions constitute a violation of human rights.

A similar report has been submitted to the Human Rights Commission.

View businesses closest to Vanderbijlpark