A HILLARY resident has voiced her concerns over the state of a substation on Coombie Road which had previously been vandalised.

Debbie Rogers, whose home borders the substation, said the area in and around it had also become a dumping ground.

In August last year, the doors to the substation caught alight, allegedly because people were smoking inside the property.

Rogers said the fact that there is easy entry and exit into the substation site was also cause for concern.

Also read: Illegal dumping a recurring concern in Pinetown

“This substation is so easily accessible because the entrance gate is missing. The substation is unsecured and I can’t understand why the municipality would leave it like this. They have come out on two occasions but the site still hasn’t been secured. This substation is operational and if it’s vandalised again it will leave residents without electricity.

“I’ve heard people going in and out of the site. I suspect there are drugs being smoked. On Women’s Day last year the doors to the substation caught alight and as a result there is a hole big enough for someone to crawl into. This substation has also been vandalised in the past,” she said.

When Queensburgh News visited the site they discovered the area was also being used as a toilet with human faeces scattered on the ground.

“The fact that people are also throwing their household rubbish in here just shows the disregard for the space. Being so easily accessible and being unsecured is extremely concerning. What if the structure catches alight, it could potentially blow up and affect my boundary wall,” she said.

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Ward 65 is no stranger to vandalised substations. In 2024 the George Codner Crescent unit was stripped and damaged and municipal teams discovered people living inside the substation.

In 2025 a substation on Sarnia Road was vandalised, leaving hundreds of residents in the ward without electricity.
The City then employed security to watch over the site and had to build a mini-substation to restore electricity.

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