Residents waiting weeks for restoration following persistent theft and vandalism

Johannesburg’s electricity service provider is fighting an expensive battle against destructive elements.

In Roodepoort alone, City Power spent the week before the long weekend hovering around 300 outstanding calls daily with roughly 200 of those lasting at least 24 hours. At their disposal, the entity had between five and eight operators working daily, assisted by an average of two team leaders, four low-voltage electricians, and one metering technician.

“Roodepoort seems to be under siege, with mini substations vandalised on a weekly basis. In the first quarter of the 2023 /2024 financial year, Roodepoort lost 32 mini substations as a result of vandalism. Replacement for each unit costs R800 000, excluding labour and sundries. Due to the high number of damaged infrastructure, we are unable to give an accurate timeframe of when the material can be supplied,” stated City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena.

One of those mini substations is located on Kanniedood Street. The message on the door states it was vandalised on September 15 but only the low-voltage section is affected. City Power has been able to back feed, a process whereby technicians reroute the current, limiting the number of residents affected. One block of Kanniedood Street has been without power since the theft, with pieces of mini substation abandoned in the field across the road.

While residents in complexes on Kanniedood Street enter their second week of no supply, a Wilro Park street took over a month to be restored. City Power installed a new mini substation in Azalea Street on the evening of September 21, 35 days after the infrastructure had been vandalised. Another outage in that area, Elkie Street, was provided with a generator as a temporary relief but on the morning of September 22, it was not operational.

“Generally, the waiting period is anything from 7–10 days, but with recent cases, we have had to wait up to three weeks,” added Mangena. City Power has upped its community engagements, helping residents secure mini substations.

Urging participation, Mangena said, “While we are working speedily to restore customers who are affected by vandalism and theft, it is our hope that communities will come together and play a watchdog role to ward off strange people loitering around their area and also report suspicious activity.”