WATCH: Power cables catch fire
Residents are unhappy with apparent poor workmanship on the part of City Power in Robin Hils.
Like the live electricity cables that caught fire at their substation, Robin Hills residents are burning with anger at what they claim is shoddy workmanship and a lack of urgency or care on the part of City Power.
“We are not worried about thieves getting into the unlocked substation. They will probably be electrocuted if they try,” Irvin Sammons joked half-heartedly. The chairperson of the Robins Residents and Ratepayers Association added the area had suffered a 30-hour power outage before City Power replaced faulty cables, which then caught fire and led to a further 50-hour outage.
There was much tripping and restoring of power between this, and it all occurred between May 6 and 13.
“These cables were supposed to be replaced with underground ones but as you can see it is all a temporary fix, the ground has been dug up for the new cables while the live ones are left lying about in a mess. Meanwhile, the gate is open and anyone can come in.”
Sammons was joined by resident Karen Stayne and Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk at the substation on Valley Road. “I work from home and my husband and I installed solar power during this,” Stayne said. “It has been a huge cost but it is what we have had to do. City Power and Eskom have to be aware they are losing paying customers like us who have to go solar.”
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Van Dyk said she had escalated the issue with City Power but was told they were waiting for underground cables and must use overground ones in the meantime.
Questions were sent to City Power’s media team about why the power outages occurred, why the live cables caught fire, and what would be done to ensure this did not happen again. They confirmed they would investigate the incident but no further comment was received by the time of going to print.
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