Picture: Roodepoort Record
City Power’s Alexandra Service Delivery Centre (SDC) has reported the theft of a specialised piece of electrical testing equipment, a megger used for critical maintenance tasks.
According to the utility, the essential tool for testing insulation resistance before restoring power after repairs was taken while City Power technicians were working at a site.
“Our team was preparing to switch off the power supply for a scheduled load reduction when the theft occurred,” spokesperson of the utility Isaac Mangena told The Citizen.
According to City Power, the device costs R800 000.
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Mangena added that the stolen device disrupted the team’s next scheduled task, which involved restoring power to the Alexandra Substation following recent repairs that affected the Hostel Distributor substation.
According to Mangena, the theft took place on Saturday evening near the Vasco Da Gama Switching Station in Johannesburg.
City Power filed a case of theft at the Alexandra Police Station and is appealing to the public for assistance in recovering the equipment.
The absence of a megger threatens to delay future maintenance and repair operations, putting the reliability of power services to the area at risk.
“City Power remains committed to providing reliable electricity to our customers and call out to the public to assist in recovering the stolen equipment and to report any suspicious activity to the authorities,” said Mangena.
The utility urges anyone with information about the missing device or who has witnessed suspicious activity to contact the South African Police Service Crime Stop at 08600 10111 or City Power’s Security Risk Management team at 0800 116 166 or 011 490 7900 / 7911 / 7553.
In response to complaints about excessive costs and potential disconnections, City Power has urged citizens to adhere to its solar installation protocols.
City Power must apply for small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) approval for every solar system installation.
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Safety and “fostering a sustainable energy future” are the goals of the change, according to City Power, which told The Citizen that a commitment to application response times was a “continuous process.”
The lowest threshold is 0 to 1MVA and comes with a R30,000 excluding VAT application fee.
City Power calculates the application fee based on the megavolt ampere (MVA) using a sliding scale
As per Daelim Electric, 1 MVA generator can be used to power data centres, factories, wind farms and other industrial-scale operations, suggesting all residential homes would fall under the first threshold.
Additional reporting by Jarryd Westerdale
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