Report cable theft

BUSINESSES AND WORKERS OF AMALGAM WRITE: We have constant power outages in this area, which result in people losing wages, as businesses cannot operate without power.

The businesses themselves are also losing income because of these constant power failures. CITY POWER REPLIES: Generally the queries that we receive from Amalgam are caused by illegal connections on the low voltage network.

The other cause of outages is theft of the medium-voltage cable, which results in power failures that affect a large number of customers, including businesses.

We do try to minimise incidents of theft by embedding cable in concrete, but thieves often find ways around it.

We appeal to affected communities to help to work with the authorities to clamp down on vandalism and illegal connections.

Turning a blind eye to illegal connections and damage to infrastructure will prolong the unplanned power outages and will also encourage the continued usage of illegal substances.

City Power has implemented a range of interventions to minimise these unplanned power outages.

We have deployed technicians in the affected areas and tasked them with disconnecting illegallyconnected meters, installing protective structures where these are non-existent, replacing existing cables and copper cables with overhead aluminium and aerial bundle conductors, balancing the load, replacing the missing fuses, locking the protective structures and fixing and replacing faulty equipment.

City Power urges communities to report suspicious activities to the control room, which operates 24 hours a day, on the following numbers: 011 490 7911/7900/7553, or on the toll-free number 0800 003 251.