City attends to urgent Ravensmead electricity infrastructure repairs
08 May 2023
The City is attending
to the repairs of a medium voltage feeder cable and substation in Ravensmead,
which were severely damaged by theft and vandalism in recent weeks. Due to
the extent of the damage, the electricity supply network in the area is
severely constrained, which causes nuisance tripping and extended outages. The
City is attending to the repairs as a matter of urgency and we ask residents in
the area to minimise their electricity usage during peak hours, by switching
off non-essential appliances while the City attends to the work.
Ongoing vandalism of electricity infrastructure has a severe impact on supply to residents in communities. In recent months, the City's Electricity Generation and Distribution Department has experienced an increase in infrastructure vandalism, which takes place under the cover of darkness during Eskom's load-shedding.
'The City is urgently attending to the required repairs in Ravensmead and Klipkop. As a result of severe damage to infrastructure in the area, nuisance tripping and prolonged outages often occur after load-shedding. The City has repeatedly been repairing damaged infrastructure.
'We ask residents in the area to assist us while we carry out the work by reducing their energy usage and by switching off non-essential appliances during peak hours. This will greatly reduce the occurrence of secondary tripping after load-shedding caused by the system being overloaded. Due to the scope of the required work to the substation and main supply cable, work is estimated to be completed between seven and 14 days.
'Our teams are prioritising this work and are working around the clock to complete the urgent repairs as quickly as possible. We thank residents for their understanding and for working with us during this time,' said the Mayco Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley Van Reenen.
R40 million to help fight vandalism of energy infrastructureThis allocation is to support law enforcement deployment, enhance security at key points and increase monitoring. This does not include the millions of rand required to fix vandalised infrastructure.
Report vandalism to the City and South African Police Service (SAPS)
The City is monitoring all hotspots in the metro. Communities must continue to be vigilant and assist the City by reporting to the South African Police Service and the City.
• SMS: 31220
• Email: power@capetown.gov.za
Anonymous tip-offs welcomed
Reward of R5 000 if tip offs lead to arrests.
Call: 0800 1100 77
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
