Parts of Kempton Park are left in the dark for days
The blackout affected areas including Birchleigh North, parts of Birchleigh, Glen Marais, and Norkem Park.
Kempton Park residents recently experienced another major blackout, with some areas enduring a 55-hour power outage.
According to councillor Jean Kriek, this highlighted the poor condition of the City of Ekurhuleni’s (CoE) power infrastructure.
The blackout affected areas including Birchleigh North, parts of Birchleigh, Glen Marais, and Norkem Park.
ALSO READ: Councillor expresses concerns over recent power outage in Kempton Park
Kriek said an explosion of panels at the Rietfontein 88/66kV stepdown substation caused the power failure on February 23.
“It happened shortly after the power was restored after stage 6 load shedding,” said Kriek.
During the extended blackout, the area suffered further setbacks, including four incidents of cable theft and vandalism of a mini-substation in Birchleigh North.
Kriek said the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has repeatedly urged the CoE to upgrade Kempton Park’s 78-year-old power infrastructure, warning the continued neglect may result in ongoing outages.
ALSO READ: CoE remains tight-lipped on second 5-day power outage in Kempton areas
“We are demanding a full investigation into the panel explosion at the substation and an urgent infrastructure repair plan to prevent further disruptions.”
Kempton Express requested the CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini on February 28 for comment.
Despite being given until March 5, to respond, no feedback was received by the time of publication.
