City Power warns Alex residents after finding house built around mini-substation

Just weeks after two houses in Alexandra were demolished because they were built on the power network, City Power has found a house built around a mini-substation that needed to be replaced.

The power utility said the Aldo Mogano mini-substation that burnt last week was supposed to be mounted and repaired but hit a snag when its team arrived to do the job.

“It was discovered the wall was encroaching on the area where it was supposed to be mounted. The wall was demolished to make way for the mounting of the mini-substation. This condition creates delays in restoration of power to the community.”

It warned resident not to build under power lines, against mini-substations or on top of cables. “This poses a serious danger and may lead to disasters, including injuries or deaths, as cables and mini-substations occasionally, without warning, explode when they experience faults.”

Last month authorities and the community demolished two houses to access a cable fault and repair exposed cables. Another fault was discovered under a third house, a double-storey.

“The issue of illegal structures built on top of and under the electricity infrastructure has been raised before with the community,” City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.

“It is not only dangerous and illegal but delays our work when we have to repair and do maintenance on the electricity infrastructure.”