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Hurry up and wait: 48 hours of no electricity for Pretoria East residents after power trip
'Tired of reporting': Residents of Ward 44 in the east of Pretoria say power trips have become a constant issue in the area.
Residents of Ward 44 in the east of Pretoria has been without electricity for 48 hours after a transformer tripped at the Wapadrand substation. Image. iStock
Ward 44 residents in the east of Pretoria have been without electricity for more than 48 hours after a 132kV trip at Wapadrand left suburbs in the area without power.
Pretoria East power trips: ‘It has been forever now’
Resident Kgosi Tseku said power trips have become a constant issue in the area.
“We have been reporting it, and we get countless reference numbers, but the problem is not being solved.
“I don’t know if the metro doesn’t have the means or capacity to deal with it or not because it has been forever now,” said Tseku.
Maria van der Westhuyzen, a resident in Silverlake, said she even reported the matter to the ward councillor, Christo van den Heever, but to date, there was still no response from him.
“I am tired of reporting this issue; we have reported it to the municipality, and I have also personally reported this matter to the councillor.
“Why should residents continue paying for services if we are going to struggle with just dealing with one power issue? What about other things?” the resident said.
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Technical team ‘busy investigating’
The City of Tshwane said the technical team was busy investigating to understand what happened.
“A transformer tripped at the Wapadrand substation affecting Lombardi, Koedoeberg, Equestria, Silverlakes, Tygervalley and MV Rural Lines (Onbekend and Zwavelpoort plots).
“Investigations are still underway, and the estimated restoration time is not yet available,” the metro’s update residents via Twitter.
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Wapadrand power trip update
Immediately after Rekord had sent an inquiry, the metro took to social media to update residents about the Wapadrand power trip.
“Wapadrand 132kV primary outage affecting Lombardi Sub, Koedoeberg Sub, Equestria, Silverlakes, Tygervalley and MV Rural Lines (Onbekend, Zwavelpoort plots).
“A 132kV leaking oil was found. The transformer transmission team is still busy attending to this outage.”
Technicians ‘having a slight glitch’
The ward councillor said he has been constantly giving feedback to his residents as and when he gets it from the regional team who deals with technical matters.
Van den Heever said the latest feedback he got this morning was that the transformer would be fixed, although technicians were having a slight glitch with the 11kV issue from the other transformer.
“The team is on-site. They are busy with the transformer and promised that the power will be restored, but they could not give me the exact time,” the councillor said.
Edited by Cornelia le Roux.
This article originally appeared in Pretoria Rekord and was republished with permission. Read the original article here.
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