MMC Environment and Infrastructure Services Department Michael Sun and City Power Roodepoort Service Delivery Center GM Sibusiso Xulu inspect the mini substation at the Manufactured Substation which exploded on Saturday. Black soot can be seen inside the box which will cost R700,000 to replace.
- Areas in western Johannesburg have had power restored after days in the dark.
- On Monday, City Power was restoring substations that had tripped after heavy rain.
- The city asked Eskom to waive load shedding for 72 hours to allow repair of the damaged infrastructure.
After at least 24 hours without power, most lights should come back on in Witpoortjie and Grobler Park in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg.
Some residents have been without power for three days.
On Monday, City Power recovered 50% of the power at the Manufactured Substation, where a mini substation blew up on Saturday as cables were exposed to water during heavy rain.
City Power Roodepoort service delivery center general manager Sibusiso Xulu said the station could not be restored to 100% ether because there may be faults in certain power boards or because turning it on at full capacity could cause it to shut down. shoot again.
City Power was also able to bring the Reefhaven Switching Station back to 80% power, which had been restored in parts of Lindhaven, Grobler Park and surrounding areas.
On Monday, Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse called on Eskom to grant the city an urgent reprieve on load disconnection for three days “to meet the almost insurmountable challenge of increasing faults and outages following torrential rains in Gauteng.”
READ | City of Joburg pleads with Eskom for 3-day load shedding break to help address increasing faults and outages
As of the morning, City Power was still fielding more than 4,000 outage-related service calls, with a significant proportion being multi-day issues.
The worst affected areas are Roodepoort, Hursthill, Northcliff and Lenasia, where infrastructure was severely damaged by flooding.
Michael Sun of MMC’s Department of Infrastructure and Environmental Services said that without power, the city was unable to repair the infrastructure.
sun said:
Given the urgent need for City Power to address widespread and growing failures, the entity has expressed concern that load shedding is not only causing additional failures and stress on the grid, but also preventing the entity from being able to service outages. effectively. and to stabilize the situation.
“It’s a simple fact that power lines and infrastructure can’t be worked when there’s no power, and cable theft increases exponentially during blackouts.”
On a tour of the area, Sun said many roads and infrastructure near Lake Florida had been damaged.
He said he was concerned about the structural integrity of some of the houses in the area, as the foundations were vulnerable to collapse due to flooding and zama zama (illegal mining) activities.
He said the city would be monitoring the area, especially now that more rain was forecast for the week.
MMC for Public Safety David Tembe said other areas also bearing the wrath of the floods included Protea North, Braamfischerville and the Princess informal settlement.
Eldorado Park, Orange Farm, parts of Main Reef Road and Alexandra also needed help from the city’s Emergency Management Services (EMS).
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Tembe said the heavy rains were actively destroying infrastructure and devastating livelihoods.
The storm on December 9 was the worst, with EMS deluged with reports from all parts of the city.
Emergencies include vehicles submerged in water, people trapped on roofs, collapsed walls, and demolished shacks and houses.
In Klipspruit, Soweto, 11 houses were destroyed and 73 people were affected. In neighboring Dobsonville, 10 houses, including shacks, were reportedly destroyed, leaving 48 people destitute.
There were 52 homes that were razed in the Meadowlands along with Dorothy Nyembe, and 42 shacks in Matholesville, 11 in Doornkop and seven in Tshepisong were destroyed.
A total of 339 people were affected by the flooding between December 9 and 10, with 269 structures, including houses and shacks, washed away.
Despite this, Tembe said the flooding incidents have not been declared disasters.
He called the situation in Setswetla, Alexandra, “unfavourable” with a struggling community.
“The construction of shacks on the banks of the rivers persists, making residents vulnerable and in danger of being swept away by floods at any time.”
Tembe said the recent flooding had been blamed on climate change.
