Rabie Ridge residents left in the dark after distributor trips
RABIE RIDGE – City Power's Isaac Mangena said that they will arrange to embark on an operation to remove illegal connections in Rabie Ridge.
The community of Rabie Ridge was up in arms after being without electricity since 10 January.
Community members went on to social media on 11 January tagging City Power, demanding their electricity to be restored.
Ward 80 councillor, Makgoba Pagadi told the Midrand Reporter that he was aware of the situation and had contacted the power supplier. “The power outage at Ext 4 Rabie Ridge was escalated to both the Midrand depot and MMC for Environmental Infrastructure Services Department, Mpho Moerane, for attention,” said Pagadi.
Isaac Mangena, media relations manager for City Power said, “We are aware of the outage. It happened on Sunday after a distributor tripped at the Allandale Substation. It affected power supply to Mayibuye and Rabie Ridge Ext 4. The Mayibuye power has been restored.
“The trip is suspected to be due to an overload of the network due to illegal connections, which as you know have been a serious problem for us in the area. We cannot restore power until we have isolated the illegally connected areas.”
He added that a team was on-site and they would first disconnect all pole-mounted transformers in the area to pressure test the line and cable, before they could attempt to restore the power.
“We will also arrange to embark on an operation to remove illegal connections in the area again. We won’t tire. It will be a surprise when we come, we won’t announce when we are coming.”
Mangena said City Power apologised for the inconvenience caused to those affected.
