City of Joburg’s MMC appeals for patience as power repairs are underway

The City of Joburg’s Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Jack Sekwaila, has issued an appeal to residents of Observatory, Bellevue, and nearby areas for patience as repairs are underway to rectify intermittent power outages affecting their communities.

The MMC expressed regret to the community that gathered outside City Power’s Inner City Service Delivery Centre (SDC) to raise concerns about the outages they have been experiencing in their areas. He assured residents that City Power is doing everything possible to ensure that the substation is rehabilitated and that normal service is restored.

“We are deeply committed to ensuring that our residents in Johannesburg receive the electricity service they deserve. We recognise that some of these challenges stem from ageing infrastructure that needs replacement. We kindly ask for your patience as we have been informed that the repairs will take approximately two weeks,” said MMC Sekwaila.

The sporadic power outages are the result of a damaged 88kV oil cable from the Sebenza network supplying the Observatory and Bellevue Substations. The challenges being experienced in the areas supplied by the two substations are due to an explosion at the Observatory Substation in December 2023. City Power has been utilising available yet used materials to rewire the substation as repairs have proven to be costly.

MMC Sekwaila also emphasised the importance of residents paying for the City’s services. He urged residents to take responsibility by paying for services, as the City needs the funds to be able to deliver the necessary services to the community. He also urged residents to report any incidents of theft of City infrastructure, as this causes significant financial losses for the City.

City Power is currently undertaking efforts to revamp all electricity infrastructure, including replacing over 60-year-old oil cables. As part of proactive measures, new transformers will be installed for Observatory and Bellevue within the next six months to help stabilise the load.

While a complete revamp may take six to 12 months, alternative measures involving non-sustainable interconnector cables are being implemented due to high consumption. Load rotation has been initiated to manage the load and relieve the grid strain that exceeds 600 Amps. Failure to resolve this promptly may lead to prolonged problems and constant trips due to overloading. The rotation will impact power supply to Bellevue, Bellevue East, Upper Houghton, Observatory, and Yeoville.

“We understand how expensive it is to do the repairs or revamp all the troubled substations. Nonetheless, we have confidence in City Power’s management to handle the electricity issue in the area, and residents can rest assured of our support whenever needed,” concluded MMC Sekwaila.

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