City Power has announced the start of phase two in its effort to repair and secure open electricity boxes in Sundowner, which have posed a significant danger to residents for years.
Phase one began in March, with City Power taking initial steps to lock the open boxes. Isaac Mangena, the City Power spokesperson, detailed these early efforts. “City Power has appointed a team to conduct repairs, lock and seal all affected boxes in the area. Our team has up to now managed to lock a number of boxes that were open in the area. They will soon start with a process of fixing those with broken doors and hinges.”
Phase two will be a more comprehensive approach to restoring the electricity boxes. Simphiwe Makupula, City Power’s planned maintenance manager, elaborated on the upcoming measures. “We are going to attend to these boxes. We’re going to replace the ones that are completely damaged and fix all the boxes that are broken. We are also going to make sure that all the boxes that are unlocked will be locked.”
Makupula highlighted the importance of community involvement in protecting the infrastructure. “We encourage community members and residents to partner with us to ensure that we safeguard the boxes so that we don’t have constant incidents of vandalism and theft. We are encouraging residents to be like David, who has been proactive in helping us to counter this issue.”
David Strachan, a proactive resident of Sundowner, expressed his thoughts on the latest developments. “I’ve been working on this problem for a couple of years now, at least three years or longer. I have reported it to the councillor on many occasions, providing reference numbers, photographs and everything else necessary,” he said. “We’ve had many promises made to us, which have never been delivered on. Finally, it looks like maybe something is going to happen, even though we were told the same two months ago. So, I am waiting to see if we can actually get something done now.”
Makupula acknowledged the recurring issue of vandalism and the necessity for a collaborative approach. “What tends to happen is we get called out to fix a problem then after we leave, people come in the evening, they break the boxes and we are not aware that it is broken. But if the community members partner and join forces with us, we ensure that we safeguard the environment.”
He further stressed the shared responsibility in maintaining the infrastructure. “The infrastructure is theirs [community members], by the way. We must work together to ensure that we eliminate this scourge of vandalism that is happening.”
Makupula shared the next steps in phase two. “For now, we’re going to arrange for materials for repairs and then hopefully by next week Wednesday, we will have an update.”
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