Residents on Golf Avenue, Randpark, experienced power surges on 15 July that resulted in some of their appliances burning or exploding.
Niel Uys, street captain of the Golf and Wedge avenues community security group, said his wife called him into the kitchen following a strange noise at around 1.30pm. “I heard the microwave making funny sounds, like popping noises while the microwave was off,” he said.
He went to fetch his voltage meter reader as he suspected that this could be due to a power surge. As he connected the meter, the reading stood at 387.2V. Normally should be 220V.
Uys immediately sent a message on the security group’s WhatsApp group advising everyone on his road to turn off all appliances and main switches.
Unfortunately it was too late for some. One Golf Avenue resident said that at the time of the surge he was watching TV and out of nowhere “the oven, TV and DSTV decoder exploded”. He went on to express his main frustration with the lack of power being an enormous security risk. “As we speak, our alarms and gates aren’t working,” he said.
Residences have called and used social media to find out from City Power when the issue will be solved, said Kobus Kahts. Kahts said an engineer had been assigned by City power to deal with the problem but nothing has been fixed or in the process of fixing. His concern is that houses could go up in flames or that someone could get injured if the power surge is not dealt with and someone turns on a plug or appliance.
Ward 98 councillor, Beverley Weweje said that theft and vandalism are the direct reason for the power surges. She added that “over the last two weeks, theft and vandalism in Ward 98 have been on the rise”. Windsor East, Windsor West, Windsor Glen, Cresta Ext 1 and surrounding areas have experienced the same challenges recently.
According to Weweje, criminals are stealing important power cables and City Power is doing what it can to repair these as fast as possible.
City Power spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
