According to a recent parliamentary question, the Sunnyridge and Marlands areas have been subject to 118 power outages within a period of 24 months.
This period is for the financial years of 2015/16 and 2016/17, from April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2017, and excludes the recent crippling outages experienced in the area.
The questions were submitted to parliament by Mike Waters MP DA deputy chief whip in the National Assembly and Lethabong constituency head.
According to the reply, “during the 2015/16 financial year, the Marlands area had 22 outages while the Sunnyridge area had 37 and during the 2016/17 financial year the Marlands area had 30 outages and the Sunnyridge area had 29 outages.”
This means the two areas had nearly five outages each month over the 24-month period.
The main causes for the outages are:
• Equipment failure referring to mainly medium voltage cable faults and switchgear failure.
• Operational causes referring to overload caused by the limited number of available cables during repairs and failure of protection equipment.
• Third party causes referring to cable theft and damages by contractors.
• Eskom referring to power outages imposed by the Eskom network.
According to the reply, it took an average of six hours for power to be restored, with the shortest power outage taking around 25 minutes and the longest around 41.5 hours to fix.
The main Germiston North Intake Substation supplies these areas and it is currently being upgraded at a projected cost of R120-million.
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The upgrade is due to be completed this year.
The upgrade includes new transformers and switchgear.
In addition to the upgrading of the main substation, the municipality has identified ageing and frequently failing equipment to be refurbished this financial year at a cost of R25-m.
Tenders for the supply and installation of underground cables are in place.
“The DA welcomes the upgrading of the infrastructure.
“However, it is unacceptable that residents are victims of continuous power outages over an extended period of time, causing stress, frustration and anger,” said Waters.
“Coupled with power outages, many residents also faced water outages.
“We are pleased to see that the new, hard-fought generator at the Windsor Pump Station did kick in during the recent power outages and residents did have water.
“The DA will continue to ensure that the metro fulfils its obligations to the residents of Sunnyridge and Marlands by ensuring they receive a reliable supply of electricity and water.”
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