City Power admonishes residents who have built over servitudes
City Power reports having challenges with reaching some of their underground infrastructure because residents in Alexandra have structures built atop servitudes on their properties.
City Power have issued a strong advisory informing the residents of Alexandra that the entity will not be repairing faults that are located underneath properties that have encroached on their servitudes.
In a statement on February 6, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that the utility had observed an alarming trend of illegal constructions and property extensions that go beyond allocated residential spaces, and into areas designated for municipal service networks.
Read more: 63 illegal connections disconnected by City Power
“Structures built over underground cables, including extended backrooms and encroachments on pavements, obstruct our access to essential infrastructure,” Mangena said. “This problem does not only go against the City’s regulations but also hampers our capacity to carry out necessary repairs and maintenance.”
To illustrate the challenges City Power faces, Mangena identified two properties where faulty low voltage cables remain unresolved since December 2024, due to the structures built over the servitude. He also identified another property that has a faulty medium voltage cable which caused an area outage last month.
“The repairs took over a week due to accessibility issues, and we recently faced over 24 hours of downtime for another outage caused by the same fault,” said Mangena. ‘In Setswetla, we encountered a delay of almost a week in replacing a pole-mounted transformer due to constructions built around it.”
Mangena said that these examples highlight the critical nature of allowing unimpeded access to their technicians for timely repairs.
“It’s for this reason that we have resolved to temporarily halt repairs until affected residents resolve the issue,” Mangena said. “One of the suggested options is to pay for the network to be rerouted. We advise customers to visit our Alexandra Service Delivery Centre to make an application for rerouting cables.
“We urge all residents to respect the designated servitudes, and to ensure clear access for our maintenance teams. By doing so, you will help us improve the efficiency and reliability of our electricity supply to the community.”
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