“We fully understand the community’s frustrations and anger at the moment. That is why we are focusing our energy, for the next few weeks, on stabilising the grid.”
Ekurhuleni executive mayor Clr Mzwandile Masina listed extraordinary measures to intervene in the spate of sporadic power outages in the Thokoza, Phola Park and Germiston areas when questioned about the Democratic Alliance’s Take Back Your Power campaign.
Watch:
Masina insisted that outages have been caused by illegal connections and direct connections to distribution pillars and street lights that overwhelm the grid.
Also read: Certain tariffs will not increase in Ekurhuleni
He said the project, Power to the People, will see the implementation of the following measures:
• Energy champions
Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) have been appointed to act as energy champions across the city.
“The MMCs will be working closely with area engineers on a daily basis and will be tasked to submit two reports to the mayor’s office – one in the morning to identify potential hot spots and risks elements in the various areas and a second report that will be submitted at 8pm to outline mitigation measures,” said Masina.
MMCs have been deployed as follows:
Ekurhuleni North – MMC Nkosindiphile Xhakaza. Ekurhuleni South – MMC Khosi Mabaso.
Ekurhuleni East – MMC Masele Madihlaba.
Also read: Community members to make use of alternative numbers – CoE
• Germiston substation and cable installations
Masina said construction on the new substation in Germiston North is currently 90 per cent complete.
“Two new cables, a 132kV and 133 kV, have been installed in Wadeville and are set to stabilise the energy supply in the area. A newly built mini-substation intended to supply power to the Primrose and Lambton areas was broken into and vandalised just two days after being commissioned. Investigations into the cable theft are underway.”
The mayor also announced a R46-million intervention package intended to stabilise the grid in the Thokoza area by installing another transformer to the local sub-station to increase power generation capacity.
“The funds will also be used to install additional protective boxes, undertake cable reconfiguration and install split prepaid metres to contain the load,” said Masina.
• Illegal connections
“The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) will conduct a series of raids in areas with incidents of illegal connections,” said the mayor.
He said metro officers will be accompanied by the city’s energy department officials to disconnect the illegal connections and secure all meter boxes that have been tampered with.
Call the Anti-Fraud and Corruption hotline on *0800 102 201* to report illegal connections.
