More clarity given on Princess electricity woes

City Power has provided clarity over the electricity issues in Princess that resulted in residents taking to the streets and closing off sections of Albertina Sisulu Road with burning tyres and rocks on Wednesday, November 16.

Although some residents on scene said they have not had electricity since Thursday, November 10, City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena confirmed there were problems with regard to electricity supply to Princess.

He said that this was not due to illegal connection cut-offs as City Power did not have an operation running.

“The investigation we conducted revealed that the load centre supplying the informal settlement tripped twice in a space of seven days which led to the outages in the area.

“We have sent a team on site who are currently busy with repairs and should restore electricity later today.

“We also have a project currently underway in the area with which we want to increase capacity in Princess,” explained Mangena.

According to Ward 71 Councillor Rene Benjamin, the electrification project in the area was where the problem seemed to be.

“That is where the issue is and it’s not a City Power issue, it’s the contractor that is working in the area.

“It seems the contractor lodged a call with City Power because there was an issue, that is the reference that I escalated, it seems as if when they left, that is where the problem of protest actions started, to me it looked like a miscommunication somewhere on this issue.”

The sections of Albertina Sisulu Road have since been reopened for traffic as the electricity issues in Princess were resolved.