City Power lying about alleged substation tampering leading to explosion, say residents

Residents of Crosby near Mayfair have expressed outrage surrounding reports from City Power that a resident has been hospitalised after he allegedly tampered with a mini substation in an attempt to illegally restore his electricity, and it exploded.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the man was warned against personally trying to restore power.

Mangena said the power utility operates in a highly regulated environment which prohibits unauthorised individuals from working on the electricity network.

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“No resident is allowed to operate on the City Power network as this is not only illegal but dangerous, as is the case with the incident in Crosby.” 

Mangena also said Crosby is among several areas with exacerbated illegal electricity activities.

In a series of emails to The Citizen rebutting City Powers statement, one resident Patronella Brown claims that the substation did not blow up.

“The boy only got shocked. Substation still standing. Nothing major. There was no call logged yesterday morning and no one was planning to come out from City Power.

“City power and the councilor is aware of this new substation that keeps on tripping since the 2nd of July. Our old substation never gave us these problems. In one day, we are tripping like 11 times.”

Brown also claims the ward councillor was in a meeting with residents at the substation last week, when it tripped.

“The same young man switched us on. The councilor and City Power are aware of numerous boxes that are tripping in our area where residents switch [back] on [the electricity]. The technicians actually showed the residents how to switch on [the electricity]. So, there was no warning from the councilor.”

Brown says City Power assured residents that electricity would be restored on Wednesday.

“I personally logged a call yesterday at 1.35pm and still we are without electricity. And, just a correction – it is only one block that is off, that’s 44 houses.”

Brown’s daughter, Bonita, and another resident, Herman Joubert, claim the keys to the substation were given to the residents in case the power tripped.

Bonita claims the old substation burned down and a new substation was installed at a cost of R2 million – for the new box.

“From the moment the new box was installed, we have been experiencing blackouts. Electricity is never on for more that 2 hours. We never had the problem with the previous box. Luke from City Power and our ward councillor gave some of the people in the street keys to the box and gave permission to them to put the trip switch on because the electrical switch tripped a lot.”

“So, this is how we got along the last few weeks. Nothing has been done about reoccurring blackouts we are experiencing, our ward councillor just ignores us, and Luke from City Power just doesn’t show up. We have lodged a complaint with City Power and we have been waiting for them to attend to the matter. We have been waiting since 2 July,” said Bonita.

Another resident, Mohamed Mansoor alleges that the electrocution of the man is a direct result of poor workmanship and service from City Power.

“The truth is that we have been empowered with consent and even encouraged by the ward councillor as well as the City Power management to have access to the substation, in order to alleviate the constrains of City Power to switch us back on when the power trips.”  

“I am one of the entrusted residents with the keys to the substation. I have even personally been at the box when City Power supervisor Lucas was there

“The man that was electrocuted today could very well have been me, as just 15 minutes prior to his electrocution, I was at the box switching us back on. I am ready to testify on these facts and challenge anyone who claims otherwise,” Mansoor said.

The Citizen also received emails from other residents disputing the statement from City Power.

Mangena responded to the claims in a WhatsApp message to The Citizen.

“No one is authorized to open our infrastructure and operate on it. Even myself, I am not, because of the dangers involved which we saw with this victim. It didn’t blow up? So why is the person in hospital if it didn’t blow up?” asked Mangena.

“We stand by our statement in which we warn residents against working on our infrastructure,” Mangena said.

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