Power substations across the city tend to explode, resulting in power interruptions for days or longer.

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The GCN spoke to Ward 92 Clr Kade Guerreiro to understand the challenges he also faced relating to substations.

Last month the Wesel Road substation in Sunnyridge exploded. In May 2021, Tedstoneville residents and business owners blamed the CoE for losing business due to continuous electricity outages in the area. There was often vandalism at their mini-substation 7D2.

He said overloading from an increased population and illegal connections, as well as cable theft and vandalism, has contributed to the defaulting of his substations.

“The EMPD has established an Anti-Cable Theft Unit to respond more swiftly to ongoing theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

“The city has also beefed up its security measures on power supply infrastructure amidst theft and vandalism, which have caused multiple outages,” said Guerreiro.

“Theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure are rife during load-shedding, more especially during stage six, when power is off for long periods.

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“Also, substations, for example in Wesel Road, have been beefed up with security measures when upgraded,” he said.

“These substations have been affected by theft and vandalism. The most recent outage at the Sunnyridge substation was caused by a man who electrocuted himself when he attempted to steal cables.

“The substation in Hattingh Street, Elandsfontein, has been vulnerable to constant vandalism due to illegal connections,” said Guerreiro.

GCN previously reported on the defaults of several substations, including the substations at Wychwood, Wesel, Pretoria Road, Elsburg and Klopperpark, among others.

“Saffier Street substation has been upgraded and the Wesel Road substation is getting upgraded over the next three financial years.

Plans will be to include more energy-related upgrades in our IDP budget for the next financial year,” said Guerreiro.

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“One of the biggest problems in Ward 92 is ailing electricity infrastructure that has received little or no maintenance for years.

“The infrastructure cannot cope with the continuous load-shedding schedules. One can only imagine how illegal connections could affect the already strained electricity infrastructure in the ward and city.”

CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said illegal connections exist in areas surrounded by informal settlements.

“On December 2, EMPD raided Elandsfontein and removed illegal connections. Residents then took to the streets in protest, demanding free power. Community members connected the same illegal connections the same day,” said Dlamini.

“Despite illegal connections, businesses have failed to pay their municipality bills. As a result, the city fails to generate enough revenue to maintain the electricity infrastructure.

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“Through electricity disconnection blitzes, the CoE has already recovered more than R8.1m in February owed by businesses in and around Germiston.

“The city, with an established team comprised of the EMPD and officials in the finance and energy departments, switched off electricity and restricted water supply to businesses that owed the municipality money.

“Businesses also received fines for illegal connections to the water supply lines or electricity grid.”

Guerreiro added that because the municipality needs to constantly repair its infrastructure due to load shedding, it is then unable to sell electricity or generate any revenue.

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“Any outage, whether caused by vandalism, theft or the dreaded Eskom load-shedding, affects thousands of residents and businesses across Ward 92.

“I recently visited a business in Meadowdale that manufactures cheese. The company lost over R5 000 worth of product,” said Guerreiro.