WITS SRC ASSIST STUDENTS AFFECTED BY THE POWER CUTS
Written by Neo Molefi on May 7, 2024
By Lebohang Ndashe
The Student Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Witwatersrand in collaboration with Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach (WCCO) has initiated a program aimed at providing students with Breakfast, lunch and Supper at the WCCO offices. This comes after the underground cable fire at the M1 highway which has affected power to some parts of Johannesburg including student residential accommodations in Braamfontein.
The Wits SRC under the leadership of Bukisa Boniswa engaged with the Faculty Registrars and the Dean of Students to have classes and Assignments cancelled, however the university’s managed refused to cooperate.
The meals are limited and served on a first-come, first-serve bases, therefore affected students are urged to come and partake in the initiative.
The SRC further called upon residence providers to promptly provide essential provisions such as water, food and sanitation facilities to mitigate the impact of the power outage. Students are advised to email the SRC Deputy President (src.deputypresident@students.wits.ac.za) should their accommodation fail to cooperate.
City Power’s back-feeding efforts have not been able to cover all affected customers — only a few. There are no alternative methods available to provide supply to the affected customers as the city does not have the capacity of generators to power all the affected suburbs.
The power utility says it is committed to rehabilitating the damaged electricity infrastructure and will restore supply as soon as possible.
City Power’s spokesperson Isaac Mangena added that he was unable to say how much longer this would take, adding that updates would be provided.
