City Power has confirmed it will investigate why most, if not all, the mini-substations in Sundowner were found to be broken open and has promised to place new locks on these.
Resident David Strachan went on 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.
In response, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said they are aware of the problem, which also extends to the areas around Sundowner.
“We take the allegation that contractors break into our infrastructure to fix it seriously, and we will investigate it and ensure it is corrected,” he said.
“No contractor is allowed to vandalise the infrastructure to gain access and we appeal to the councillors or customers who have evidence of this to come forward. Our infrastructure is severely under threat with theft and vandalism adding to the many existing challenges.”
Mangena added the entity has embarked on a programme to ensure all substations, mini-subs, transformer subs and distribution boxes are secured and locked.
“We have contracted armed response tasked with increasing visible patrols. However, due to the magnitude of the network infrastructure, it is impractical to protect every piece of the network.”
They will, however, collaborate with Community Policing Forums and other community-based structures to protect the network, Mangena said.
“Contractors are discouraged to use their own locks as this creates logistical nightmares as in most cases, it would be difficult to locate the keys, the contractor is not on shift, away on leave or holiday and/or the contract has expired. We have gone to the market to procure padlocks that will be City Power branded from services providers that will place the locks on all unlocked substations.”
Team leaders in the Randburg SDC have been tasked with ensuring the area is given first preference once locks have been sourced.
Residents are encouraged to report essential infrastructure-related matters to City Power’s Security Control on 011 490 7900/7911/7553 or their local law enforcement.
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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