City Power aims to restore Parkwood’s electricity by July 3, after the suburb has been connected to a power utility’s generator since May 20 due to a cable failure.

The power utility confirmed to the publication on July 1 that it remained fully committed to restoring a stable and reliable electricity supply to customers affected by the prolonged outage between Cotswold Drive and Englewold Drive, Parkwood and appreciated the continued patience and understanding shown by residents.

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City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, explained, “Our technical teams have been on site since June 30, undertaking trenching work in preparation for the installation of approximately 380m of new 11kV underground cable. Once the trenching has been completed, the replacement cable will be installed and connected to the network.”

This comes after the publication inquired on June 24 about Parkwood’s electricity woes, which resulted in City Power keeping Parkwood lit with its generator.

The Saxonwold and Parkwood Residents Association (Sapra) secretary, Marcelle Ravid, had approached the publication on June 21 to highlight the residents’ concerns.

“Many residents remain without electricity because City Power does not have the money to buy a cable. A generator has been placed in Englewold and Cotswold drives for four weeks, since the power utility doesn’t have the cable required for repairs,” she said.

Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck claimed City Power was bankrupt and could not do proper repairs because they had no material, hence the generator.

“I suspect they need to find capital expenditure in a region of R2m to R3m or more, if they have to put in a whole lot of cables.”

Mangena refuted the claim that the power utility was bankrupt.

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“The repair work took longer than initially anticipated due to the exceptionally high demand for 11kV underground cable across Johannesburg as City Power continues to implement multiple network rehabilitation and infrastructure replacement projects throughout the city,” said Mangena.

“Procuring the required quantity of specialised cable, therefore, took longer than expected. The delay was not the result of budgetary constraints or a shortage of contractors.”

He added that City Power prioritised the needs of affected customers by installing a generator to restore a temporary electricity supply while preparations for the permanent cable replacement were underway.

The spokesperson added that after the completion of all cable joints and network connections, City Power operators would conduct comprehensive testing and final safety checks to ensure that the infrastructure is operating according to the required standards before supply is restored.

“Barring any unforeseen technical challenges, electricity is expected to be fully restored by July 3.”

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