20 hours without power for residents in Ward 115 due to alleged vandalism and cable theft

Theft and vandalism at the Houtkoppen Substation near Witkoppen Road resulted in 12 cables being stolen, leaving many without power for most of the day.

The substation supplies power to residents in Douglasdale, Kya Sand, Noordhang, Northriding, Houtkoppen, Juskei River Park, and Maroeledal.
Ward councillor, Mark van der Merwe said he received a number of messages from residents regarding the matter on the day. With 42 000 residents in his ward, he believed about 25 000 were affected by the outage.

“What seems to have been 12 cables inside the Eskom side of the substation and one cable on the outside of the City Power side of the substation were cut and removed by cable thieves. The vandalism is alleged to be an orchestrated attack,” he said.

“The Fourways Eskom manager told me about the massive issue and committed to having as many teams onto the problem as soon as possible.”
While van der Merwe was concerned at the time it took City Power to tend to the matter, a spokesperson from the power utility, Isaac Mangena said resources from both Eskom and City Power were dispatched to the affected areas.

“The teams worked around the clock and managed to fully restore the power supply that evening.
“It is worth noting that, the growing number of theft and vandalism is a major problem across the City which impacts repair and replacement demands. Criminals now work around the load-shedding schedule to avoid electrocution or detection.”

Mangena previously told Fourways Review that load-shedding was costing the City an estimated R3.6 million per day, in stolen cables, blown transformers and other related issues.
Ronel Kotze, communication practitioner at Eskom said the theft has been reported to the police and added that there are methods being implemented to prevent future vandalism cases. These included conducting risk assessments to classify hot spot areas.

“Static guards are placed strategically at hotspots and are complemented by armed response patrols. Armed response patrols are conducted at intervals at the identified routes. We also partner and collaborate with community members, community security companies, business forums, SAPS and POPS to try and reduce theft and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure.”

Kotze continued that there is a big knock-on effect from the cable thefts for Eskom.

“There has been an increase in incidents of theft and vandalism resulting in the loss of revenue and increased replacement costs for Eskom. These criminal acts do not only affect Eskom, but they inconvenience law-abiding, paying customers and community service points such as healthcare and education facilities, businesses, and the economy,” said Kotze.
Douglasdale police spokesperson, Captain Mpho Tshetlhane confirmed a case of tampering with infrastructure has been opened, and investigations are currently underway,
“We are appealing to the community with information that may assist the police investigation to contact Douglasdale Police Station on 011 699 1300, 071 6757158, or 08600 10111. Alternatively, they can use the MySAPSApp to provide tipoffs anonymously, or find their nearest police station,” she said.

Community members are encouraged to contact the following numbers if they see any suspicious activities at the substations:

• Eskom crime line number 0800 112 722,
• Your local police station
• City Power’s number 0800 116 166 or send a WhatsApp to 083 579 4497

Here’s what locals on Twitter had to say:

https://twitter.com/christellvdM91/status/1630684521183019008

@Eskom_SA @CityPowerJhb the Houtkoppen substation is out for almost 24 hrs. An hour after you restore the fault you loadshead us. Please make it make sense. Our alarm batteries are dead our fridges are not cold. Where is your reasoning in all this.

— Smart Mapara (@Kanya__West) February 28, 2023

@CityPowerJhb What’s the latest on Houtkoppen Substation? Any ETC so we know how to plan our lives? That’s all we ask.

— Rykiel Ramnath (@rykiel_ramnath) February 28, 2023

How can you say Houtkoppen has tripped when cables have been cut/stollen. Inside and outside the substation where hit last night during load shedding. Why was there no security? Apparently its a 44 hour completion time. Welcome to South Africa where nothing works.

— Tiggy (@Tiggy33752544) February 28, 2023

@CityPowerJhb is a team on site? Or not yet dispatched? And don’t lie, I’m sitting outside the Houtkoppen substation.

— Richard McLaren (@rgmclaren) February 28, 2023

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