Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has blamed the collapse of an additional three power pylons on criminals dealing in metal, and now wants the industry to be regulated, said Themba Fosi, MMC for utilities and regional operations.
And Fosi has urged residents to urgently notify the SAPS and the Tshwane metro police if they see people acting suspiciously near pylons in the city.
The MMC made these comments after investigations by the City found that three pylons were vandalised, which caused the power lines to collapse onto the road.
His views were echoed by mayor Cilliers Brink, who said criminals were now targeting the steel that forms part of the structure, causing the towers to collapse, bringing down cables they support and causing power outages.
Fosi, however, said that the collapse of the three pylons did not affect customers as the City managed to supply the residents with electricity.
The latest incident followed one in which residents were left in the dark, allegedly after criminals hit several pylons near the N4 highway, leading to pylons collapsing on April 10.
The City managed to restore electricity in those areas.
The City announced that all the areas that had experienced power outages due to the pylons’ collapse on the N4 east freeway had electricity restored, except for a few network challenges encountered while switching the power back on.
Power was fully restored at the Mamelodi 2 substation, except for some areas from the hinterland substation, such as ext 4, 5, 6, Vista View, Ikageng, section 14, 15, Nellmaphius ext 21 and 24, Phase 1, part of S&S and Mamelodi ext 5, section 12 and 13.
A number of companies, including Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa and their supplier networks, were left reeling as a result of the outages, with many saying it was an act of sabotage.
Ford spokesperson Minesh Bhagaloo said the collapse of the power lines resulted in a major power outage affecting large parts of Pretoria East, including the Silverton Assembly Plant and its local suppliers.
“As a result, the Silverton plant, which produces the Ford Ranger for local and global markets, suspended production on April 11. Power has since been restored in stages, starting on the evening of April 12, and production slowly resumed.
“The estimated total loss of production to date is 1 440 units. Due to the scale of the Eskom infrastructure concern there remains some risk of interrupted supply. However, we continue to liaise with Eskom and local government as they work to balance the system and fully restore the network,” Bhagaloo said.
Fosi said all communities must safeguard their infrastructure, as the City does not have personnel to guard every pylon.
“It is the duty of communities to guard their infrastructure.”
He shared the view of Eskom that theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure has risen to disastrous proportions, threatening essential services and the lives of innocent people.
“Cable theft is serious. These pylons are destroyed by cable thieves who sell the steel to those who deal with metal. We need to regulate that metal industry.
“Cable theft is spreading not only in Tshwane but the entire country.”
Pretoria News