ELECTRICAL appliances and bulbs of about 80 households in Rhodesfield ext 1 exploded after cable theft at a substation.
Mrs Isabel Joubert said the electricity went off shortly after 8pm on Friday morning. When they switched on the mains the light bulbs inside the house exploded. They were lucky not to lose computers, DVDs, TVs or decoders as some of their neighbours did when the electricity was restored at about 1pm the same day.
The electrical appliances got a surge of 380 volts, an Ekurhuleni electrical engineer explained to Joubert. Thieves stole a neutral bar from the Marks Road substation.
Joubert said households on Van der Sterr, Vleuel, Mark, Vine and Fred Driver streets were affected by the surge.
Residents who gathered in the street after the incident were so furious they almost attacked an Ekurhuleni meter reader doing his rounds.
Ward councillor Tracey Butler said cable thieves broke the lock and door of the substation to steal the neutral bar, an important component to electricity supply.
Butler said it was the second time something like this happened in Rhodesfield. The residents in the vicinity of Gladiator Street were victims of this type of cable theft about two years ago.
It also happened at the Bosch Street substation about a year ago.
Butler said residents could claim from Ekurhuleni’s insurance for damages but it was not guaranteed they would be compensated for the damages. To claim, residents have to go to the electricity department’s offices on Plane Road.
Butler also plans a public meeting on the matter on Friday, January 31 at 6pm at Oxford High School on Kelvin Road. Call her on 082-451-2255 for more information.
