An estimated cost of R10 million will be needed to repair the damaged cables and vandalism of electric sub-stations in Centurion, councillor Ina Strijdom, DA Tshwane spokesperson on electricity said on Friday.
This follows a recent incident where two Eskom feeders to the Kwagga sub-station were damaged due to a veld fire and huge parts of Pretoria was left without electricity for three to four hours. When power was restored to Kwagga the Eldoraigne sub-station did not respond.
Residents are also concerned about this challenge that had left them in the dark for a few days. One of the residents in Eldoraigne Nirvana Basdeo, said they had to stay without power for two days as a result of a damaged transformer. She said as residents they are concerned and that something should be done to address the challenge.
Strijdom further said that upon investigation, the Tshwane electricity department discovered that there was severe damage done to the Eldoraigne sub-station. “Underground cables were stolen and transformers were damaged. The estimated cost of the damage is more than R10 million. Residents in Eldoraigne and surrounding areas were inconvenienced for approximately 18 hours. Certain areas were even without water due to a lack of electricity supply to the pump station,” explained Strijdom.
The following day similar damage also affected the Kentron sub-station. This resulted in the Zwartkop area being without electricity for an extensive period, it was reported.
Cable theft in areas such as Clubview, Valhalla, Hennopspark and Louwlardia is on the increase, according to Strijdom. “Millions are lost as a result of vandalism and cable theft and we appeal to the police and metro police to assist us in curbing this challenge.”
Fire’s general manager in Gauteng province, Avhasei Maswime, said winter is the time of veld fires and that people including landowners should protect and prevent fires during the critical fire season by ensuring that fire belts are created to prevent and fight veld fires.
Wierdabrug police could not confirm any arrests.
