'We have children writing matric who have to study in candlelight. Residents are throwing away food and spending thousands on petrol for generators'
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It is unclear when residents of Meyerspark in Pretoria East can expect power to return after being without it for 13 days.
Earlier this month, a large part of Pretoria East was left without power when the Watloo substation went up in flames and tripped a cable at the Njala substation.
While many wards’ power has since been restored, residents in Murrayfield, La Montagne, Meyerspark, Willow Park Manor and surrounding areas near Kandelaar Avenue are still in the dark due to multiple open-circuit MV cable faults.
Cable after cable
DA ward councillor Ben Chapman said: “It doesn’t matter whether US President Donald Trump has a press conference in Meyerspark or not; the restoration of the electricity is not going to go faster.”
Chapman said there was an issue identified around Murrayfield substation and the surrounding network which affected parts of.
“The biggest problem is that the power surge that went into Meyerspark was so big. It’s like having your whole house fried – all the wires,” he said.
“It’s cable after cable at this stage. They are rewiring from mini-substation to mini-substation. Some of them test clean. But when they get to the next one, they find three or four faults on that cable.”
Chapman said every cable takes about five hours to replace. “It’s not a quick fix. We are on the ground until the early hours of the morning.
The candidate ward councillor is out every night producing up to seven updates a day on our group,” he said.
“While the Tshwane team were fixing a mini-sub on one side of the ward, vandals foiled subs on the other side of the ward.
“We have children writing matric who have to study in candlelight. Residents are throwing away food and spending thousands of rands on petrol for generators while others don’t have the luxury of a generator.”
Tshwane unable to confirm restoration time
City of Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said they understand the hardship and frustration experienced by residents who have been without electricity for more than 10 days in parts of the Murrayfield and Koedoespoort.
Mashigo said out of the initial 47 affected medium-voltage units, only one remains without power.
“The testing team are prioritising this section to locate the fault and guide repairs aimed at restoring supply to the remaining customers as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Locating faults in underground cables can take time, but this work is essential to directing repairs to the correct sections.”
Mashigo added once repairs are complete, teams must test the repaired cables before switching supply back on.
“We cannot yet confirm a restoration time, as this depends on locating the remaining faults, completing repairs and obtaining satisfactory test results,” he said.
Suspect arrested for cable theft
Last week, the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) arrested a suspect at the Waltloo electricity depot for possession of stolen electricity cables, tampering with municipal infrastructure and trespassing in region 6 sector 1 in Mamelodi.
TMPD spokesperson Colonel Isaac Mahamba said regional policing members were conducting overnight patrolling duties to safeguard the city’s infrastructure when they noticed suspicious activity inside the Waltloo electricity depot.
“Upon investigation, they caught a male suspect in possession of electricity cables, which preliminary investigation revealed were the property of the City of Tshwane,” he said.
