WHILE the power supply in Ward 36 has been stable for the last few months, critical electricity infrastructure needs to be replaced.

That’s the word from Ward councillor Heinz de Boer who has welcomed the electricity cable replacement programme currently underway in roads in Umgeni Park and Margaret Maytom Avenue.

This is good news for Umgeni Park which endured a torrid 2024, with the longest outage lasting 11 days and an additional 40 hours without electricity in December.

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“Currently the eThekwini Municipality is replacing the old electrical 35mm cables with 95mm cables on Browns Drift Road, Riverside Road and Margaret Maytom Avenue. Another advantage is the new cables are aluminum and are less prone to theft compared to the old cables which were copper. The truth is the old cables couldn’t handle electricity loads which led to several cable faults for the area.

“This project will help in stabilising the power supply and minimise longer outages. I am pushing for the project to expand to other areas within the Ward. The replacement project has also not been without challenges as the contractors have had to deal with cable stock delays,” he said.

De Boer added the upgrades were necessary because of the financial impact it has on residents’ homes.

“One thing we cannot ignore is the financial impact of outages. In previous outages businesses in the area have had to run massive generators run at great expense. Residents also end up losing food that is spoilt or facing issues with their electrical equipment,” De Boer said.

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