Easter Sunday got off to a rough start for some Cape residents due to massive power outage
Mayco Member for Energy, Xanthea Limberg, explained that early on Sunday morning City teams were alerted to a major high voltage cable fault impacting the areas, and that the cause of fault was vandalism and theft.
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'City energy teams have been working 12-hour shifts non-stop to restore power to affected communities. The speed at which this intricate and challenging work has been done is almost unprecedented,' Limberg said.
'The dedication, trouble-shooting, and effort have been notable. Teams are on track to restore power by Monday evening if all goes to plan.'
A number of councillors have been updating their residents, with councillor Lwazi Pakade explaining that part of the reason for the delay in repairs on Sunday was due to City repair teams needing law enforcement escorts for safety.
He said that another reason for the delay in restoration was because 'power can't be rerouted from other substations due to grid constraints'.
By late on Sunday evening, not was Pakade on the scene, along with Bonteheuwel councillor Angus McKenzie, but so was Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis who was updating residents via social media.
McKenzie said that having a number of WhatsApp groups has helped to keep the residents informed of developments.
'The power-outage, in not just Bonteheuwel, but the surrounding areas also, has been hugely frustrating for residents… Ever since the outage I've taken to providing updates every single hour all the way through.
'I have a WhatsApp group for every street in my community, as well as various other WhatsApp groups, so residents are consistently updated with the progress of what was happening,' McKenzie said.
'The challenge with this outage was that a high-voltage cable had been vandalized and that high-voltage cable provides electricity to a number of sub-stations and those sub-stations supply to the various affected areas.'
Limberg added that City energy teams have worked through the night to do excavations and major cable repairs to restore power following significant vandalism and theft to feeders and cables.
'For this to happen, some areas that had power restored yesterday and last night due to the rerouting of supply have been placed on power rotation today. This is critical for the full restoration to take place.
'Power to areas that were restored is being shut down at short notice for periods of four hours at a time throughout the day in Bonteheuwel, Langa, and Thornton from 9am until the restoration is complete,' she said.
McKenzie that 90% of Bonteheuwel residents had power by 7pm, last night and that they are currently on rotation for that 10% that is left over.
'Residents each receive four hours of electricity until such time that the work is repaired and completed. We are hoping that the completion of the work will be around 5pm on Monday afternoon, which is something that must be commended.
'The teams have worked exceptionally hard, and under normal circumstances, specifically if you look at Eskom, these sorts of repairs will take between 7 and 14 days,' McKenzie said.
'For this repair to take just over 48 hours, and by ensuring that most residents receive their supply of electricity, the community in itself is hugely appreciative of it, despite the frustration.'
Limberg added that due to the large power supply that has to be restored, system tripping from overload is a real risk.
Residents have been advised to switch off non-essential energy equipment, heaters, pool pumps, and geysers, as it will help to restore power faster.
Factsheet for residents to note: Power rotation started in Bonteheuwel (including Netreg) and Langa from approximately 9am. Rotations to last for four hours.
Thornton will also later be put on rotation.
Customers who were on Sunday are off for four hours at a time. Those who have been off will be on in four-hour blocks until restoration is complete.
Power rotation is essential for the complete restoration to take place in this large area.
Switch off non-essential equipment and geysers to avoid large tripping and restoration delays.
Charge phones and devices if you can and prepare for four blocks of four-hour power-off times.
'The City apologises for the inconvenience, but we thank our teams who have really gone above and beyond the call of duty to help our communities,' Limberg said.
The City has recently launched a new campaign, 'Protect Your Power', where residents have been encouraged to report any vandalism, illegal connections and theft via WhatsApp or call.
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