Damaged Church Street cable a problem for residents

A damaged electricity cable has been left unattended in Church Street in Johannesburg North, leaving residents without power for days on end, and posing a danger to those nearby it.

According to concerned resident John Bradford, the initial break was reported on 25 October and no work has been done to fix it since.

“The cable is short-circuiting and you don’t even have to be close to hear it. There was a team that came out to investigate after, but since then, no work has taken place,” said Bradford.

Recent heavy rains have only made the situation worse with the hole flooding with water.

“When the rain hit, it knocked out the power to the entire block. We were without power for three days. There are workers laying water pipes nearby, and they are exposed to this danger, and I worry about the fire hazard and the danger this poses to passing pedestrians,” he continued.

Repairs to underground water pipes in the area have been taking place on the street since September, with similar damage to parallel electricity cables during the repairs reported by the Randburg Sun on 23 September.

A Church Street pensioner was left without power for seven days after the damage was caused to his outside electricity cables during the repair work.

“This problem is severe, and I really hope it can be sorted out soonest. Trying to call the call centre, I must have spent close to an hour and a half in time, only to be cut off each time,” said Bradford.

City Power’s Noel Maso said that their electricity infrastructure gets damaged frequently when other companies dig to lay their own infrastructure, and the backlog of repairs at the moment is large.

“The number of damages gets revealed when there is bit of rain and at times such repairs require cable replacement. Customers are encouraged to report such incidents and teams will be dispatched to attend for repairs/replacement as soon as teams are available,” said Maso.