City attends to high volumes of storm-related electricity service requests
10 March 2021
City teams are attending to a high volume of electricity service requests triggered by the severe storm. Larger area outages caused by infrastructure damage also takes longer to fix. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience suffered. Residents are assured that City teams are attending to it as fast as humanly possible.
Electrical infrastructure in areas across the metro has been affected by the recent strong winds and rain. The inclement weather caused some flooding and the uprooting of trees, where branches have been caught in power lines. Infrastructure damage is impacting on the restoration time. Due to the high call volumes which the Electricity Call Centre is currently experiencing, customers are encouraged to instead make use of SMS or email to report electricity outages. Customers are encouraged to also log their own service requests via e-Services. Please do not log the same request on multiple channels as this causes delays.
Please note however there are a large number of backlogs and customers may not get a timeous response.
Some areas affected include Philippi, Bonteheuwel, Eastridge, Boston, Constantia, Colorado Park, Grassy Park, Bergvliet, Lentegeur, Newlands, Kuils River, Beacon Valley and Gugulethu.
‘The City is attending to high volumes of service requests as a result of the severe inclement weather. There might be delays in attending to outages, depending on their nature. We are doing our very best to assist customers. The City is unable to say how long it will take to restore individual and area faults, but City teams are working as hard as they can. We thank our customers for their patience and understanding. Due to the high call volumes which the Electricity Call Centre is currently experiencing, customers are encouraged to instead make use of SMS or email to report electricity outages,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.
Trees affecting power lines, infrastructure
Property owners are encouraged to maintain their trees and vegetation. Stormy weather usually contributes to an increase in power outages, especially where tree branches grow over and into overhead power lines.
The City’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department has made every effort to minimise electricity outages caused by trees growing alongside overhead power lines by carrying out various tree clearing efforts in preparation for winter storms. Vegetation growing too close to overhead power lines is especially dangerous. The City also continues to roll out its underground cabling programme.
Property owners or those renting a property are urged to do this maintenance work while taking safety precautions and to ensure the required clearance of at least 3,8 metres between vegetation and power lines. Residents are also reminded that branches that encroach on streetlights diminish their efficacy. Clearing of overhead lines can be dangerous and property owners can approach the City for advice if they have already let trees grow too close to power lines.
Should residents be concerned that there is a risk of trees on City property encroaching on City overhead power lines, they are encouraged to report these cases to the City’s Fault Reporting Centre on 0860 103 089 or
FaultReporting.Centre@capetown.gov.za.
Contact us (please do not log the same request on multiple platforms):
SMS: 31220 (electricity faults)
Email: power@capetown.gov.za
e-Services: http://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Report/Municipal-services-and-maintenance/Submit-a-service-request/Submit%20a%20service%20request%20online
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
