A week after a huge power surge in Rhodesfield, another surge caused serious damage to appliances in at least two houses on Pienaar Street on January 30.
Rita Shaw, owner of Chique Skin Technology, said along with a coffee machine worth R20 000, one of their tanning beds broke when the surge hit at about 1pm.
André Wolmarans, Shaw’s neighbour, said the adaptor to which the television was connected, caught fire.
They dowsed the fire and saw the gaping hole in the adaptor left by the fire. They lost a computer screen and television and wires in the laundry melted together.
Some of the geyser’s wiring also burnt and a light bulb in the living room exploded.
Wolmarans said their power kept tripping at about noon. After checking it was not their appliances causing the power to trip, they contacted the municipality, who, according to Wolmarans, said some cables were stolen and the power would be on again in about two hours.
He said when the power returned, the huge power surge hit.
They only found out what happened after their security company phoned them at home and told them the alarm at their business had no power.
When they went to the salon, they saw the damage.
Shaw said she had to cancel weekend customers because the standing tanning bed was broken.
Ward councillor Tracy Butler initiated an open meeting on January 31 regarding the power surges after the incident in Rhodesfield. She said about 90 people who suffered damage as a result of the surges attended, and they were all frustrated.
At the meeting it was explained that a neutral bar was stolen from a substation, and that caused the surge in Rhodesfield.
She said there were security measures in place at big stations but not at the smaller substations.
She said the situation was being looked into, because it was becoming a real problem. If these thefts continue, it may become an epidemic.
A spokesman for the metro said they had extra patrols and investigators to patrol areas in Rhodesfield, Glen Marais and Kempton ext on Friday evening, January 31.
They managed to arrest one suspect who admitted to stealing the copper bars at a couple of the substations. The public is requested to report any suspicious people entering substations or meter boxes to the police.
