A Mayibuye resident has raised her concerns about exposed electricity cables which were left by City Power.
Lerato Malapane explained that she reported the exposed cables on Bulelwa Makamme Street over three months ago. “This happened after our transformer burst into flames, I sent a report to our ward councilor to have it fixed. He told us to send him pictures, which we did. Then he reached out to City Power – their officials came and fixed the transformer and then never hid the cables afterwards.
“We then had a meeting with the councilor and City Power afterwards. A City Power official told us to show him the cables, we did. He told us that when he gets to his office, City Power will send us a message saying they would fix the problem. They sent the message the following day, but never came to hide the cables, until this day.”
Malapane said they live in fear every day of someone getting hurt because of the exposed electricity cables. “These cables affect us very badly. We have a few men who voluntarily post themselves nearby the cables on a daily basis to keep the our children from getting closer to them because they can get hurt, even fatally.”
Ward 110 councillor Lesibana Lamola said he thought the cables were fixed because he has had not heard anything further from any community members. “I have spoken to City Power about this and many issues like this. Others were fixed and I am worried about this one which has still not been fixed because at the time, they only did it as a temporary way to supply power.”
Isaac Mangena, spokesperson for City Power, said that the cables looked like someone used them for an illegal connection.
“City Power would not connect cables that way and have cables running through people’s patios, exposed like that. We have a serious problem of illegal connections in Mayibuye, Floyd Shivambu and Kanana. In fact, on 30 September, we were in Floyd Shivambu doing cut offs due to illegal connections. We have always warned that illegal connections are dangerous, as you can see with those cables.
“Not only are they costing the City millions in lost revenue, they are also dangerous to the lives of the residents, especially children.”
Mangena concluded that they would have to look at this problem to ensure that they send a team to cut off the illegal connection and resolve the issue.
Details: For more information, please contact City Power on 011 490 7000.
