City Power trying to fix problem of burnt substation

As the country marked Freedom Day yesterday, the community of Fleurhof on the West Rand took to the streets in protest against lack of electricity.

Residents said they had been without electricity since Monday.

They blocked Main Reef Road with burning tyres and stones, demanding that the electricity be restored.

Some residents said they were inconvenienced by the outage, while others claimed they had lost goods due to the use of candles.

Themba Dlamini, 51, who lives with his four children and three grandchildren, said his bedroom suite burnt after a cloth caught fire.

“We were surprised when we saw smoke coming out of the bedroom while we were in the sitting room. We are not used to using candles so we forgot that we had the candle on.

“My bedroom suite burnt to ashes, I slept on the floor last night,” he said.

Basnar Nukeri, 42, a community leader in the area, said they were badly affected by the outage.

“We have been living without electricity for four days and life is not easy. All the meat in the fridge is rotten and we are forced to bathe with cold water,” Nukeri said.

“They have been promising us that the electricity will come back since Monday but nothing is happening. They told us that the transformer had exploded but four days is too long.”

Johannesburg City Power spokesman Virgil James said they were working around the clock to fix the problem.

“We understand the frustration [of the residents] and we are working around the clock to solve it but we cannot say for sure [when the power will be restored],” said James yesterday.

“A substation caught fire because contractors used high voltage cables. The cables were severely damaged. It is high voltage cables and not everyone can work on them.”

Police spokesman Captain Kay Makhubele said they were monitoring the situation in the area.

“We have been engaging with the community and city officials. We hope that the situation will be resolved soon,” said Makhubele yesterday.