MSS on Florin Road replaced

The Northside is prominent for its dilapidated and ageing infrastructure, as power outages affect areas weekly with no solution so far.

On January 15, the mini substation (MSS) on Florin Road near the Riverview Shopping Centre caught fire from the heavy rain and thunderstorm in the evening and caused a massive power outage for surrounding residents.

According to Wilgeheuwel and Honeydew (WH) Residents Association representative Yvonne Ackerman, the incident was reported around 22:15 by residents on their community WhatsApp groups after hearing the explosion.

“We were so fortunate that our local security companies and fire department responded as quickly as they could before the fire spread and damaged any further infrastructure. City Power (CP) was aware of the situation, and workers were on site in the morning cleaning the MSS and securing it for repairs.

“We were informed that a new MSS will be delivered and power will be restored to the areas that were affected,” Ackerman said.

Contractors arrived on site early on January 17, removing the damaged MSS and waiting for the delivery of new material. The contractor in charge explained to Roodepoort Northsider journalist Tshegofatso Thobedi that a new cable was set to be connected as the old one was damaged beyond repair. The new MSS was delivered later in the afternoon and contractors started working on restoring power for the residents.

Residents later confirmed their power was restored and the new MSS was working efficiently.

“There is still much work that CP needs to do. Although the new MSS was installed, there are still frequent power outages in the area almost every day. There needs to be a serious intervention with the infrastructure and CP needs to find a way to improve it,” Ackerman adds.

The Northsider contacted CP for comment and a statement will be sent for a follow-up article.