Ferndale Ridge residents experience constant outages
Residents in Ferndale Ridge are blaming poor workmanship from City Power contractors for the constant outages they are experiencing.
Residents of Kent Avenue in Ferndale Ridge have been plagued by power outages over the past few weeks.
Once among the best sections in the area for power uptime, the feed from the Beech Avenue substation in Robin Acres now deals with outages frequently. Residents are not at all happy with the situation, as they can no longer rely on having power.
Read more: City operation targets illegal power links in Ferndale
Pierre van Wyk, head of the Ferndale Ridge Residents Group, said that the problem is down to poor workmanship by contractors at the substation.
He explained that in November 2024, contractors worked on the substation, and they lost power later that night. The following day, they discovered that the white phase, or main connection wire, from Maid Marion Avenue had been bridged to the white phase for Kent Avenue. “The red phase for Kent Avenue was loose and was the source of the problem then. I repeatedly brought the matter to the attention of City Power, as well as councillor Nicole van Dyk. Unfortunately, nothing was ever done to make a repair, and no feedback was ever given.”
He further explained that, to make matters worse, the recent outage was attended to by contractors who have left the substation in a terrible situation. “After the first outage we experienced, on June 26, a contractor was appointed to replace all sorts of cables. On investigation, there is now a circuit breaker missing from the substation on Beech Avenue.”
Van Wyk also confirmed that the contractors said they were fixing Maid Marion Avenue, only to discover later that a trench was dug to Kent Avenue, but no new cable had been installed. “I would like City Power to come and open that trench again and see.
“I suspect the contractors were charged for a job they never actually did. Had power gone off in Kent Avenue, residents would have been posting on the group, but whatever repairs they did, they have not fixed the problem at all.”
The previous problem with the bridged phase, and loose red phase, has also still not been repaired. He believes that these are the source of the constant outages.
He added that they hope City Power will be available to meet and discuss the mess, as well as hold the contractors accountable, so that they can have a reliable power supply once again.
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