Progress is being made in electricity crisis

The Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) has provided an update on the progress of the electricity crisis in Finsbury and surrounding areas saying that work is being done to restore the essential service.

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RWCLM spokesperson Phillip Montshiwa confirmed that a contractor has been appointed.

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“Progress is being made. Tshepang Electrical was appointed on January 13 to urgently assist the municipality to restore electricity supply after an explosion in Finsbury. To date, a lot of work has been done including clearing the site to plant new poles, as well as surveying and pegging of the new overhead line route. Wayleave application to Eskom and Transnet has also been submitted. As it stands, the Tshepang electrical team already planted 43 of the 12 metre wooden poles [out of the required 63 poles] and they are busy planting the remaining 20,” Montshiwa said.

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He added that a new roof was installed on January 26 and other maintenance work was carried out as well.

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News of this comes after scores of residents were left in the day for more than two weeks following a power outage in Finsbury, Ten Acres, Koksoord and Brandvlei due to cable theft. The Lafarge transformer and Finsbury substation burned as a result of the theft.

According to Montshiwa, the appointed company has already placed an order for a new switchgear to replace the damaged one.

He added that the switchgear first needs to undergo a factory acceptance test in Midrand, to confirm if it complies with all the necessary requirements before it can be released to Tshepang Electrical.

“The plan is to start with the installation of the new switchgear from Monday, January 30, if all goes well. Stringing of the new overhead line between Munic substation and Finsbury substation will also commence then as well. RWCLM will keep on updating the community of Finsbury and surrounding areas on the progress until the electricity has been restored. We want to apologise again for the inconvenience caused to the community of Finsbury and the surrounding areas,” concluded Montshiwa.