DA learns more about power supply problems
Councillors from the Democratic Alliance toured the Van Eck Substation in Brakpan, on Thursday morning, last week, in an effort to better understand power supply problems.
The visit was arranged following a spate of power failures in several areas of the metro recently, including the whole of Brakpan.
It was hoped that the visit would also leave the councillors in a better position to make recommendations to council to ensure urgent attention is given to fixing the power supply problems.
“In a country facing an electricity crisis under the constant threat of load shedding, it is imperative that the metro properly maintains its power supply to avoid weakening an already-aged system,” said DA councillor Jackie Reilly.
“Power failures are all too common throughout the metro, with lack of maintenance and cable theft being the two main causes of areas being left powerless for hours and even days on end.”
The councillors were accompanied by senior engineers from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s energy department, who gave an overview on the substation’s equipment and system.
Van Eck, which is situated in Minnebron, is an Eskom intake point which supplies power to the entire Brakpan area, with the exception of Brakpan North.
Brakpan North has its own substation.
It was explained that when faults occur at Van Eck there are no alternative supply points to share the load, resulting in the whole of Brakpan being without power until the faults are fixed.
Equipment and cable theft are also rife throughout the metro, and a common reason for power outages.
These thefts can also have after-effects, which aren’t always noticed immediately.
It was reported that maintenance, which is regulated by law, and inspections, are conducted on a regular basis and that some equipment is currently being refurbished.
The visit, however, highlighted the metro’s call centre as a major cause for concern and Reilly described it as “just not working”.
One engineer pointed out that he was made aware of a recent power problem only when a councillor had contacted him for more information.
This, according to the DA, demonstrates the call centre’s failure to relay information to respective departments.
The call centre was also accused of failing to communicate with residents effectively.
“They have no information for residents who phone to make inquiries,” said Reilly.
The metro has agreed to provide a full report to the DA, explaining the cause of the power failures and problems.
“Once we get this report, we will have more information and will be able to address it accordingly,” added Reilly.
