Heavy rainfall that keeps battering many parts of Johannesburg has wreaked havoc with electricity supply, resulting in City Power getting more than 2,000 calls from frustrated residents on Monday morning.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the power utility has come under severe strain due to the rain, leading to widespread outages and thousands of logged complaints.
The wet weather conditions have increased the number of outages and are hampering our restoration efforts as teams battle to access certain areas that are waterlogged
— Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson
“City Power is starting to feel the impact of sustained heavy rainfall on its operations across Johannesburg, with the number of logged queries this morning exceeding 2,000.
“The wet weather conditions have increased the number of outages and are hampering our restoration efforts as teams battle to access certain areas that are waterlogged,” Mangena said.
He added that closed roads several roads have been closed due to flooding, which has complicated the repair efforts.
“Several roads have been closed by the Johannesburg Roads Agency [JRA] due to flooding, particularly in Roodepoort and Lenasia. Fallen trees in Hursthill, Parkview, and Randburg have blocked access routes and, in some cases, snapped overhead lines, causing additional outages.
”Before our teams can access some of these areas, we have to wait for JRA and City Parks to clear the roads,” Mangena explained.
He said underground cable faults have also been affected and the wet conditions make it extremely difficult to locate faults.
“The equipment used in detecting faults doesn’t function as effectively in waterlogged environments. The other challenge we face during repairs is that digging to fix the underground cables becomes difficult. While the trenches are waterlogged, our teams cannot effectively carry out repairs, causing further delays,” he said.
He said 545 active queries were logged in the Hursthill Service Delivery Centre (SDC), affecting areas such as Rosebank, Pennyville, Kathrada Park, Westbury South, Fordsburg North, Fairlands West, and Coronationville.
Roodepoort SDC had 498 queries, with outages across Matholesville, Tshepisong, Wilgeheuwel, Strubensvalley, Florida Lake, Florida Park, Fleurhof, Delarey, and Lufhereng.
Inner City operations reported 430 calls linked to outages at Bree, Van Beek, and Orchards substations, while Reuven SDC logged 274 queries, mostly tied to faults in Mondeor, he said.
According to Mangena, Lenasia had more than 200 calls, with outages in Lindelani, Lenasia South, Ennerdale extensions, Lawley 2, and Freedom Park East.
Randburg also reported more than 200 queries, while Alexandra logged 181 calls, largely due to damaged overhead lines in Lombardy.
Midrand, though less affected, still recorded 61 calls, with outages at the Allandale Substation and Greenstone Hill Switching Station impacting Mayibuye, Rabie Ridge, and Stoneridge, he said.
Mangena said the teams are working tirelessly to restore power.
“Although there have been some notable delays, our teams are working around the clock. We have also put additional resources in place to alleviate pressure from areas where we are encountering the most pressure,” he said.
However, Mangena stated that technicians could not operate in areas where safety could be at risk, such as places where water, exposed cables and unstable ground pose a high risk of electrical flashovers or equipment failure could put their lives in danger.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused and urge customers to remain patient as we work on resolving outages across the city,” Mangena said.
Sowetan
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