Darrenwood substations to be secured better
City Power also thanks residents for asking a local security company to patrol around its substations.
City Power has made plans to better safeguard two Darrenwood mini-substations after they were both targeted by thieves multiple times in recent weeks.
The two substations lie about 500m apart on Republic Road.
One has since been locked up and the grass in the property trimmed so that one can see if it is secure. The second is yet to be made more secure after two break-ins.
Residents have also ensured a local security company patrols the substations daily.
“Following a series of vandalism and theft of the infrastructure incidents, we have taken a decision to remove the transformer substation and replace it with a high-performance mini-substation,” said City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
“We have also spoken to the owner of the nearby complex to allow us to house the mini-substation in their property at no charge to City Power and they have agreed, and we are thankful for their assistance. We believe this should be able to minimise vandalism and ensure the security of supply to our customers in the area.”
Regarding the community keeping an eye on the substations, Mangena thanked them for ‘taking ownership of their infrastructure and protecting it’.
“The infrastructure belongs to the residents to service the residents. So, we welcome any measure by the community to ensure the infrastructure is secure and safe from theft and vandalism. This kind of partnership with the community has [borne] fruit across the city where most of the suspects arrested for cable theft has been through the assistance of the communities.”
Also in the ward, a mini-substation on the corner of Conrad Drive and Susman Avenue, Blairgowrie, has been replaced after it was damaged due to an overload.
“We had load-shedding first in February and City Power struggled,” said Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk.
“We were worried about how the entity would deal with all the outages but I must say they have done well. I am actually overwhelmed at how well they have handled all the faults and issues in our substations that arose because of load-shedding.”
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Dwars Street substation to be secured after work is done – City Power
