City Power has taken proactive measures to address the ongoing power outages affecting Northriding, Olivedale, and the surrounding areas, which have been a source of frustration for residents. The municipal power utility has intensified efforts to rectify the situation and offered apologies for the inconveniences caused by these outages.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the outages have been plaguing northern Joburg due to various factors, including equipment failure, vandalism, theft, and cable faults.
“We understand the residents’ frustration about not having a power supply for extended periods. City Power has been hard at work to restore the power supply for all residents as soon as possible,” Mangena says.
The recent issues began on Saturday, 30 September when the Olivedale area began experiencing low voltage. Eskom operators were initially dispatched to investigate, but they could not identify the fault. The matter was then referred to City Power.
On Sunday, 1 October, City Power operators discovered an open circuit, and efforts were made to resolve the low voltage problem, including ordering necessary materials for repairs. Challenges arose during repairs, as the cable was situated in a difficult location, crossing bushes and a river.
On Tuesday, 3 October, the repairs were completed; however, the cable failed tests upon restoration. The testing team struggled to locate the fault on the same day. A breakthrough occurred on Wednesday, 4 October when a stolen cable was found, and the fault was identified. Repairs continued throughout the night and were completed by Thursday, 5 October.
“Final tests were conducted, and power supply was restored by midday. A permanent solution to reroute the cables from vulnerable areas such as bushes and rivers was implemented, offering a more secure infrastructure that is less prone to theft and vandalism. This project was successfully concluded on Monday, 9 October,” Mangena explains.
For Northriding, recurring outages began after a third-party mistakenly damaged a City Power cable during their project.
“The challenging nature of working in a water-logged area with multiple service cables resulted in frequent power supply interruptions. Delays were further exacerbated when the entity was slow to respond to requests to drain the water from the trench, making it unsafe for teams to work with electricity.”
On Tuesday, 10 October, a phase fault triggered another outage. Repair teams are currently resolving the issue but are encountering multiple challenges due to the location of the cables.
“Efforts are ongoing to implement a long-term, permanent solution, which has proven challenging due to infrastructure constraints in the area. Additional teams from different Service Delivery Centres have been deployed to expedite repairs.”
During a recent Region C Accelerated Service Delivery Programme, the Executive Mayor addressed Northriding residents and promised to find permanent solutions to provide stable electricity supply.
“City Power remains committed to keeping customers updated on progress, providing two-hourly updates on repairs as they work diligently to resolve the issues. For more information and updates, residents are encouraged to visit the City Power website and social media channels,” said Mangena.
SOURCED FROM THE CITY WEBSITE.
