Ongoing power outages frustrate Olievenhoutbosch residents
According to Tshwane, the power disruptions in Olievenhoutbosch are caused by a multicore cable that was stolen on March 7.
Olievenhoutbosch residents are frustrated by the recent ongoing power outages.
Angry resident Sechaba Tsubella said the frequent blackouts last for hours on end. He claimed the problem has been unresolved for the past eight years “at least”.
He said every time they ask what the actual cause is, they are told different stories.
“The problematic mini-substations change from one year to another. One year it is the Noordwes substation and another, the Rua Vista substation,” he said.
“We have written over 100 emails to the mayor and councillor [Peter] Sutton, but all we get are empty promises about some grand plan to fix the substation that, to date, has not happened.”
He added that since the beginning of the year, electricity goes off every day between 17:30 and 18:30 and returns around 22:00 without an explanation.
Concerned resident Mmachego Mathapo said that this was a mess because they are always given different reasons for what the cause is.
“On holidays, like the Easter holidays, there are no power outages, but immediately after come the outages and stories, and this really worries me because it happens every day,” she said.
Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said power disruptions in Olievenhoutbosch were caused due to the theft of a multicore cable that protects and controls the system on March 7.
He said that the stability and resilience of the electricity supply in Olievenhoutbosch are affected by vandalism and theft of the electrical infrastructure.
“Since the cable theft at the Olievenhoutbosch substation, metro engineers have started investigating ways of safely restoring supply,” he said.
He said their main focus was to protect and prevent the substation from burning or the transformer exploding.
Bokaba said the investigation determined that some of the outages were caused when the multicore cables were being cut and exposed.
“These cables were sometimes causing trips and outages,” he said.
“On April 5, metro engineers continued with their investigations and found what they thought was causing these frequent outages and implemented the solution,” he added.
Bokaba said only temporary measures have been implemented to prevent frequent outages.
He said the metro planned on replacing several substations, including Noordwes, because it also contributes to the outages in the area.
“The only contributing challenge we face is cable theft, which happens several times and normally requires changes or reprioritisation of power system protection,” he said.
Bokaba urged residents to be vigilant and protect metro infrastructure, which provides them with the needed services.
According to him, the metro was working hard to find resources to replace the stolen and vandalised infrastructure to stabilise the network.
He said depot personnel and test and protection engineers are always on standby to swiftly respond to any outages.
“The Centurion depot has the switching’s standby team, which is the first responder to every medium voltage outage,” he said.
ALSO READ: Cable theft sees old age home plunged in darkness for close to a month
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