Following multiple power outages in North Riding, Olivedale, and the surrounding area, including eight days of low power voltages in Sharonlea, City Power has increased its personnel to assist in working on a long-term solution and getting to the bottom of things.
The entity regrets that these disruptions have inconvenienced the locals. In recent months, the region has seen frequent outages caused, among other things, by cable problems, equipment failure, theft, and vandalism.
Spokesperson Isaac Mangena said that they understand the residents’ frustration about not having a power supply for extended periods. “As indicated at the Mayoral Service Delivery event, City Power has been hard at work to restore the power supply for all residents as soon as possible.”
The most recent issues began near the end of September when the Olivedale and Sharonlea communities began experiencing low voltage.
Mangena explained that their operators found an open circuit and a team was allocated to resolve the low voltage challenge and ordered material for repairs.
“While working on repairs, the team had difficulties as the cable was located in the bushes and across a river. The repairs were completed; however, the cable failed tests upon restoration. The testing team tried locating the fault on the same day but was unsuccessful. The next day, a stolen cable was found; the fault was located. Repairs continued throughout the night and were completed.”
The entity also completed the project of rerouting the cables from the bushes and the river to provide a safer option that is less prone to theft and vandalism.
Mangena confirmed that North Riding outages started after the incident where Johannesburg Water mistakenly damaged the City Power cable while working on a project.
“The power supply often tripped due to the limitation of working in a water-logged area with multiple service cables. Further delays have been caused by delays in draining water from the trench where it was unsafe for a team to work with electricity.”
While waiting for the water to be drained, City Power worked on a temporary solution to restore the power supply but unfortunately, it could not handle the load, and another trip happened.
“A team is still working on completing a permanent-lasting solution, which has presented challenges due to infrastructure in the area. Repairs are currently underway and more teams have been brought in to assist with fast-tracking the repairs.”
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