The City of Joburg launched a new power substation at Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
The new substation replaces a 65-year-old rusty substation by the metro's power utility, City Power, following mounting calls from community members of habitual electricity cuts.
According to a community member, Geraldine, the substation was long-awaited since the days of Herman Mashaba’s mayorship.
“The substation has been standing for a long time since Herman Mashaba (was mayor). We have had no electricity for close to 21 days as a community. We promise to pay for municipal services to get revenue for the city,” said Geraldine.
In attendance at the launch was the newly elected mayor, Dada Morero, the MMC for Finance, Margaret Arnolds, and the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Jack Sekwaila, among other stakeholders.
Morero mentioned that the project was piloted in 2015, and was scheduled for completion between 2017 and 2018. However, the project came to a halt as officials, including the service provider, were fingered in corruption.
“There were issues of corruption in 2016, where an investigation was lodged. The people involved were arrested and are currently attending court,” said Morero.
He added that the project was delayed due to procurement challenges, citing budget constraints and that equipment had to be imported from overseas.
Sekwaila noted that the substation is expected to rid the community of habitual power outages, which have plagued the area.
He added that the new substation would deter cases of cable theft and illegal electricity connections.
“There have been cases of cable theft in Eldorado Park. The substation is a long-standing commitment by the city to resolve issues of electricity cuts and service delivery in the area. We are glad that today our promise was fulfilled to the people of Eldorado Park. We hope to keep this infrastructure safe from illegal activities,” said Sekwaila.
Morero clarified to community members that the ongoing load reduction was the metro’s alternative strategy to protect electricity infrastructure from blowing up, which stemmed from excessive electricity consumption in winter.
“It is important to have load reduction to protect electricity infrastructure, so it cannot blow up; and to deter illegal connections,” said Morero.
The mayor implored members to pay their municipal rates, as payment shortfalls infringed on the city’s revenue, and eventually hindered service delivery.
“The community of Eldorado Park has the responsibility to protect the substation to stop illegal connections. We ask communities to pay their municipal rates to garner profit and deliver services. Our people must enjoy the benefits of sustainable energy,” said Morero.
The mayor added: “We are going to install high mast street lights for communities to be safe. There must be electricity in our streets for criminals to stop committing crime.”
The Star