Ekurhuleni metro denies claims power will only be restored by Friday

The city of Ekurhuleni is currently conducting a reconfiguration of its network to sustain the electricity supply to Kempton Park, reports Kempton Express.

This is according to metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe and it will require the temporary disconnection of the Van Riebeeck Park substation.

ALSO READ: Emfuleni municipality in the dark after explosion at Vanderbijlpark substation

“Terenure, Van Riebeeck Park, Edleen, and Kempton Park West will be without power during switching for 30 minutes [at] most,” he said.

In the meantime, ward councillor Jaco Terblanche believes the city of Ekurhuleni is “ambitious” to believe they will have power restored by Tuesday afternoon.

POWER UPDATE: KEMPTON PARK – Our team is still on schedule to start restoring power to the remaining affected areas on Tuesday 18h00. These areas affected include:
Norkem Park, parts of Birchleigh, Allen Grove, Nimrod Park, Witfontein and Glen Marais.

— CITY OF EKURHULENI (@City_Ekurhuleni) June 10, 2019

Terblanche believes the city would only be able to restore power to the areas which were still out by Thursday afternoon.

These areas are Norkem Park, parts of Birchleigh, Allen Grove, Nimrod Park, Witfontein, and Glen Marais.

Gadebe denied this and said the metro was still on schedule to restore all power by Tuesday at 6pm.

“We ask residents not to create panic by providing misinformation. The city has regular updates and will continue to do so until the situation is back to normal,” he added.

Terblanche said that although cable theft caused the explosion in the first place, damage could have been limited had better maintenance been done.

POWER UPDATE: KEMPTON PARK – Explosion at Glen Marais substation, Emergency Services on site assisting. Once damage is determined TAT will be available. pic.twitter.com/5I4WaJlJiw

— CITY OF EKURHULENI (@City_Ekurhuleni) June 8, 2019

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