12 days no power for Mooikloof Ridge and Olympus
The outage had lasted 7 days when power was restored on April 25.
Power has been restored to 80% of ratepayers in the east of Pretoria but the rest remains in darkness 12 days on.
The majority had endured a 7-day outage when power was restored on April 25.
Almost 10 suburbs east of Pretoria, including surrounding farms, Pretoria East hospital and Woodlands mall, were without power after the Mooikloof substation was ravaged by a fire on April 17.
The fire caused extensive damage to the substation, including to transformers and cables sending Tshwane into overdrive working on repairs.
MMC for utilities Themba Fosi said the city has made good progress in restoring power to affected communities.
He said power is back on in several areas, including Mooikloof Estate, Parkview shopping complex, Woodlands mall, Woodhill, The Wilds, Pretoriuspark extensions, a portion of Moreletapark and MK rural line.
He said however investigations are ongoing to establish what the fault is in Mooikloof Ridge and Olympus.
“An investigation is ongoing after tripping during the switchback at the Onbekend rural lines. Power supply remains off at Boardwalk and Olympus with investigations ongoing.
We are pleased to announce that our technical teams are working diligently to address some of the remaining issues while most of the repairs have been completed.”
He said the metro acknowledges the inconvenience caused by this incident and expresses gratitude for the patience and cooperation of residents and business during the restoration process.
“We assure residents and stakeholders that every effort is being made to expedite the resolution of the remaining issues. We will continue to provide updates as the restoration process progresses.”
Ward 101 councillor Malcolm de Klerk said a team of engineers and technicians pulled off a seemingly impossible feat restoring power to a crucial substation destroyed by fire to a strict dateline.
“Getting a substation destroyed by fire up and running in a few days is a great milestone looking at the extensive damage the substation experienced.”
De Klerk said he is glad the teams were able to stick to timelines.
“However with Olympus I’m still awaiting feedback on why it didn’t go on with the rest of the areas. Mooikloof Ridge suffered a faulty cable at an older joint.”
He sent out his appreciation to the residents for their patience and compassion.
“I am glad to see communities stick together during difficult times and helping each other.”
He said communication has improved.
“We definitely can improve, and conducting random surveys on how to better communication with our residents.”
Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink in his state of the capital address on April 18, emphasised that electricity substations are not meant to burn down.
“According to the most basic of engineering standards, each substation must have protection equipment that shuts down the supply of electricity if a fire risk occurs,” Brink said.
He said he is as frustrated and angry about every substation fire as the residents affected.
“The time when we simply ask for people’s patience and then fix the damage until the next fire happens is over.
I have told the city manager that every substation fire is to be treated like an extreme exception requiring full investigation,” Brink said.
He said if someone’s negligent or wilful conduct lost the city millions of rand in repairs, such a person must be held accountable.
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