Electricity supply to Honey Park has been restored following a series of cable theft incidents and infrastructure-related faults that caused prolonged outages and led to a brief protest on January 8.

Residents staged a protest blocking Beyers Naudé Drive between Johan and Bothma roads in the Wilgespruit area. The protest was driven by frustration after surrounding areas had electricity restored while Honey Park remained without power.

“Our concern was that surrounding areas were restored, but ours was not,” said resident Nthabeleng Kgokong.

City Power’s general manager for the department of public relations and communications, Isaac Mangena, said the outage was caused by cable theft, vandalism and ageing electrical infrastructure, leading to complicated restoration efforts.

• Read the initial article here: Cable theft sparks protest over prolonged power outage

“While our teams were able to restore power to some affected areas, Honey Park was primarily impacted by cable theft, which was further compounded by pre-existing faults and additional faults identified during repairs,” Mangena said. He further explained that Ward 97 is supplied by multiple substations and switching stations, which resulted in different restoration timelines across areas.

Mangena said three separate sections of cable, each about seven metres long, were stolen in Honey Park within the past week. He added that a total of 43 cable theft incidents have been recorded in the Roodepoort area since the start of the current financial year.

According to Mangena, restoring infrastructure damaged by cable theft typically costs between R250 000 and R300 000 per day and often leads to extended power outages.

Addressing claims that cables were replaced but electricity was not restored, Mangena said material shortages during the December holiday period, as well as additional faults discovered during repairs, delayed final restoration.

He confirmed that the full electricity supply was restored on Sunday, January 11, after all faults linked to both the cable theft and pre-existing infrastructure issues had been addressed.

Mangena also addressed concerns about the Lutz substation, saying construction work was paused due to delayed infrastructure deliveries, adverse weather conditions and the year-end shutdown period.

“The temporary pause was not due to financial losses or leakages,” he said, adding that work will resume once materials are received and suppliers return from the holiday period.

The Lutz substation is expected to be completed and commissioned by December this year. Mangena said this will reduce pressure on the Peter Road substation and improve electricity supply stability in Honey Park.

In the meantime, City Power’s Risk and Security teams are working with community-based organisations, including the Honeydew Power Rangers, to curb vandalism and cable theft.