CRIPPLING power outages have plagued Isipingo over the past week as a result of cable damage and vandalism of electricity substations.

Also read: New cable to ease Lotus Park electricity woes

Ward 90 councillor Shad Nowbuth said seven substations were affected by the vandalism, while the medium voltage cable damage occurred at the site of a culvert construction in Thie Road on August 21. This left hundreds of households and businesses without electricity.

“Some of the areas affected included Alexandra Avenue, Papwa Place, Rabindranath, Gokul, Seeboo, Samsunder, Inwabi and Ramsunder Roads. In view of the absence of progress reports that were requested from electricity management, the matter was escalated to the DA leadership for intervention on August 22. Subsequently, a team was set up to attend to the repairs,” said Nowbuth.

Damage and vandalism at Isipingo’s substations are a common occurrence. In July, two men burned to death when a substation they were trying to steal cables from in Lotus Park exploded. The resulting damage left residents and businesses without power for almost a week. Nowbuth said with the latest outage, technicians were working until late to fast-track repairs.

Supply was restored to most affected customers on August 23, and the rest a few days later.

Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.