Many parts of Germiston have been left in darkness once again.
Though prolonged power outages are nothing new to Germiston residents, the latest spat of outages, which have lasted for days, have left many residents angry and frustrated.
Residents’ frustration has only grown as they allegedly receive no feedback from the metro on the causes of the outages or when power will be restored.
“Germiston and the surrounding areas have been hit by persistent power outages following the failure of an Eskom 40 MVA transformer at the Kreupelhout Street substation in Wadeville,” said Ward 39 Clr Alta de Beer.
“This has had a domino effect as overloading of the already delicate grid triggered outages in neighbouring suburbs, such as Dinwiddie, Mimosa Park, Lambton, Parkhill Gardens, Delville and Elsburg.
“The metro’s resources are stretched to breaking point at the moment and this has resulted in poor communication and high levels of frustration for both the residents and ward councillors.
“While the transformer is Eskom’s responsibility, we are concerned that the repair could take up to six weeks due to the costs involved and the repair time needed.
“I have since been in contact with MMC Dora Mlambo, who is responsible for service delivery in Germiston,” said de Beer.
“She agrees that the current situation is unacceptable and is open to discussing the way forward.”
ALSO READ: Germiston residents struggle through the darkness
In a statement, the metro’s spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, said the metro and Eskom have been able to reduce the time frame required to replace the Eskom transformer, which Eskom has not confirmed despite the GCN sending several queries.
“As part of our immediate remedial actions, we have been able to drastically reduce the time frame required to replace the transformer,” said Gadebe.
“Work is now scheduled to be completed on July 13.
“In addition, a new 11 000-volt cable has been temporarily installed to enable load to be distributed between two primary substations, and this will lead to more load being accommodated and hopefully, mean less trips on overloading of the system.
“Any cable and equipment faults will receive immediate attention.”
Gadebe said the metro’s future plans will include medium- and long-term arrangements.
Medium-term arrangements include:
• A new security tender will be in place by the end of July, which will make provision for special early-warning notifications to a control centre before cable theft takes place.
• Video cameras and pepper spray alarm systems and more equipment will be installed in sub-stations.
• All cameras and early-warning notifications will be monitored in three security control rooms and reaction teams dispatched as and when required.
• All meter-tampering will be followed up and necessary actions taken.
• Illegal electricity connections will be removed.
ALSO READ: Update: Power should be restored to all affected areas – says councillor
Long-term arrangements include:
• The metro’s Atom Road substation will be upgraded and have double capacity within the next two years.
• The metro’s Russel Road substation will also be refurbished and upgraded.
• Frequently failing cables will be replaced and upgraded where necessary.
Moving forward, de Beer and the metro have urged all residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly and to keep the load balanced, especially during the two peak periods daily (7am to 9am and 4pm to 7pm) by implementing energy-saving measures.
Residents are also requested to assist by reporting any illegal connections and properties that are overcrowded.
For many residents these are just more empty promises and words from the metro.
“The municipality needs to be brought to book on this, especially when you phone the metro’s call centre and you either cannot get through or they cut you off or tell you they don’t know what the problem is and how long it will take to resolve,” said Hilary Mitchley.
While another resident commented: “Give me one good reason why we should put up with this gross mismanagement and be deprived of a basic service like electricity for which we are paying an arm and a leg.”
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.zaor Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Kgotsofalang Mashilo (journalist) kgotsofalangm@caxton.co.za
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