Strong electric storm damages appliances in Oakdene

Last week’s electrical storm damaged electrical appliances belonging to an Oakdene resident, Grant Bransby.

Bransby said these include the distribution board which caught fire, breakers, two TVs and the DSTV decoder were also blown. He attributed all this to an ‘unacceptable and horrendous work’ carried out on the suburb by City Power.

He said City Power replaced breakers three years ago and they never covered them and were left exposed. “From the day they replaced these breakers, they just left them hanging in the wind. I reported it and they said they haven’t got boxes or containers to put them in to protect them from lightning or an electrical storm. Now who’s responsible for this?” he asked.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said they apologise to the customer for the unfortunate ordeal they’ve suffered as a result of bad weather conditions.

“The complaint came to our attention on February 1 and upon receiving a logged call, a team was immediately dispatched to the customer’s house and the power supply was restored. This is according to records linked with the attached reference number CP3121495.

“We can confirm that the breakers were not covered due to the unavailability of boxes. However, City Power wishes to point out that there’s no direct connection between the uncovered breakers and the lightning strike that affected this customer.

“The entity would like to remind all customers that it is the homeowner’s responsibility to install lightning protectors on the distribution board to shield their homes from possible strikes that could damage their appliances,” explained Mangena.

There is a public liability form that City Power provides that the customer may claim for compensation.