Roodepoort suburbs plunged into darkness as 10 mini-substations vandalised

City Power says it is making significant progress in replacing vandalised electricity infrastructure across Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg.

This comes after 10 mini-substations were vandalised in the last six weeks, leaving the entity struggling to keep up with repairs.

Residents in Little Falls and Wilgeheuwel experienced prolonged outages as a mini-substation at Nestegg was vandalised.

“The outage resulted in community protest. We are pleased to announce that the team has replaced and restored power supply,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.

They have also replaced several pole-mounted transformers in the area as they continue addressing rampant vandalism, he said.

According to City Power, one mini-substation costs about R800,000, excluding sundries and labour, and an estimated R8.6m is needed to replace the vandalised infrastructure.

“While our teams are working swiftly to procure material, the waiting time is an inconvenience to our valued customers,” said Mangena.

He said as from Sunday evening the mini-substations that were vandalised include:

• Augrabies Avenue in Little Falls;
• Madeline Street in Florida;
• Sonderend Street in Helderkruin;
• Cross Avenue in Helderkruin;
• Tshepisong in Harry Gwala;
• Alverstoke in Strubensvalley;
• Banfield Switching Station (Davys Street);
• Pafuri Road in Wilropark; and
• Johan Road in Honeydew.

“To date, we have replaced five of the 10 mini-substations at a cost of about R5m and we are working towards securing the balance.

“As committed as we are to restoring power in the shortest space of time, we find ourselves in a predicament where we are unable to manage the high incidents of vandalism and theft we are facing at this time.

“City Power has a programme to secure our infrastructure through palisade fencing, padlocks and an advanced security system.”

The programme proved to be quite successful, Mangena said, but it seems that once they secure the infrastructure, the syndicate moves to a different area using the same modus operandi to carry out “organised criminal activities”.

The entity pleaded with residents to assist them, act as watchdogs in their communities and help ward off potential crime, and report suspicious activities.

“As we approach the holiday season where vandalism and theft are particularly rife, we encourage you to guard the network.”

Mangena said residents should:

• ask City Power employees or contractors for a job card for that day, job wayleave if they are digging, and valid City Power ID;
• take down vehicle registration; and
• ask who at City Power allocated the work.

If none of these can be presented, then risk management should be informed immediately. Any illegal activities can be reported directly to the 24-hour risk control team on 011-490-7553, 011-490-7900 or WhatsApp 083-579-4497.

“We are also calling on the police to place more resources in high-crime areas, to charge those arrested for tampering with electrical infrastructure and ensure that cases make it to court with the strictest sentences handed down to offenders.”

TimesLIVE