Sundowner substations are all open and easy pickings for theft
Substations in sundowner are all broken open and accessible.
It is very possible that not one substation in Sundowner is locked properly.
So says resident David Strachan after a walk around the area with the Randburg Sun, where all eight substations they passed were open.
Live cables were visible from the outside, as most doors were left ajar or broken off their hinges.
Some had locks on them, but these were all useless as the substations were all accessible.
One door had a wire holding it closed while another with an open door thrummed with live electricity right outside a nursery school.
“It’s not safe and I have been complaining to City Power about this for years,” Strachan said.
“What they told me was even though they put locks on all the substations two years ago, the subcontractors were not allowed to get their hands on the keys. So, whenever there is an outage, subcontractors come and have to break into the substations to fix the problem.”
He said this is a huge waste of resources as leaving substations open invites vandalism, which in turn costs more manpower and equipment to replace.
City Power media liaison, Bongani Mavundla noted the issue and said he would follow up with the manager of the utility’s local service delivery centre to investigate why the substations were all accessible.
Then, through spokesperson Isaac Mangena, comment about the matter would be made.
Ward 134 councillor, Devon Steenkamp also said he has been chasing the issue and has been waiting on City Power.
He encouraged residents to report to the entity all substations that are easily accessible.
Details: City Power joburgconnect@joburg.org.za; 0860 56 2874, 011 490 7000.
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