The City of Tshwane apologised profusely for prolonged power outage affecting Clarina and nearby areas as a result of a break-in at Wolmer 132kv substation by armed criminals.
Municipal spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the break-in took place on Sunday when the security personnel stationed at the substation were held up by gun-wielding criminals who tied them down.
“These intruders vandalised and damaged the medium voltage equipment and cables in their attempt to steal copper conductors. As a result of this despicable act, the areas within the Wolmer 132 Kv supply network, namely Tileba, Winternest, Pretoria North and Clarina, were plunged into darkness,” Mashigo said.
He said the City swiftly dispatched a technical team from the Energy and Electricity Department in response to this unplanned service interruption.
The team, he said, assessed the damaged equipment with a view of effecting repairs which included replacing the faulted cables.
“The repairs commenced on Monday, May 20 2024 and continued throughout until May 21 2024. Unfortunately, following the completion of the repair work, another cable fault was identified around 06h30 within the substation yard, which affected the restoration of electricity to Winternest and Clarina,”he said.
Subsequently, he said, an additional four underground cable faults on the network rings were identified around 13h10, which further hindered the restoration of electricity supply to Clarina.
Mashigo said the team immediately commenced trenching on the N4 /Willem Cruywagen Bridge to expose one of the suspected faulty cables for repairs.
“Necessary material for repairs has been secured and repair work is currently under way. Unfortunately, it has come to the City’s attention that the electricity team on the ground is being subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation as well as threats of violence by community members,”he said.
He said the City understands the frustration caused by this prolonged power outage and would like to plead for patience during this restoration period.
Pretoria News
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za