There are several present and future upgrades for Ward 97 to deal with the area’s power issues. Following the recent update on Deysel Road in Honeydew where businesses have been without electricity for five months, Councillor Jacques Hoon said although it was slow, progress was being made in the ward.
Also read: https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2022/04/05/deysel-poad-power-nightmare-continues/
“After consultations with City Power officials, I was told that the pillar boxes are at 60% completion and the individual boxes are at 40%. Cables have been laid out on Deysel Road as well as a new substation; however, that street has not been powered yet.”
Hoon said the upgrades on Deysel Road cost R6,2m but the ring feed upgrade has not been done yet. All of these postponements unfortunately affect small businesses and residents the hardest. Some businesses on Deysel Road have closed down due to the prolonged power outage and if they are operating, it is often at a loss.
Not too long ago, residents on Bothma Street were without electricity for more than a month after the attempted theft of a mini substation on Beyers Naude Drive. Cable theft and vandalism are among the biggest factors causing power outages and in turn, City Power spends around R700 000 replacing stolen infrastructure – money that could have been used to upgrade and replace old infrastructure.
Also read: https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/2022/01/28/before-during-and-even-after-the-festive-season-still-without-power/
Councillor Hoon said Wilgeheuwel is one such area of which the reservoirs are severely overloaded and in need of upgrades, “There are power outages in Wilgeheuwel every other day. There is a lack of capacity and the infrastructure is undercapacitated. The infrastructure is extremely overloaded especially during peak hours.”
While several future upgrades have been announced by the power supplier, the dire circumstances that certain areas are in due to long-term power outages do not help the swirling rumours that City Power does not have the budget to fix what has already been broken.
City Power did not respond to questions sent to them.
