Johannesburg – City Power employees on Thursday morning found the burnt body of a man inside the vandalised Mechanical Switching Station, which controls electricity supplies to Roodepoort and surrounding areas.
The dead man, who had an ID book on his person, was found days after the Mechanical Switching Station was vandalised.
On Wednesday, after the Department of Labour cleared the site, the City’s power utility began repair and restoration operations.
The operations involved laying 11 cables, installing five Ring Main Units (RMUs) and 19 joints, and termination.
“Due to the extensive work involved, the utility is estimated to be able to complete operations and restore supply to customers by Friday,” said City Power Spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
“The utility’s team worked tirelessly where most tasks on the scope of work were executed overnight.
“City Power anticipates to begin with testing cables during the day. When all tests are clear the restoration process will be affected.”
The outage has left residents of Florida Lake, Hamberg, Creswell Park, Georginia South, Rand Leases, Esperanza, Florida Lake Park, Vogelstruisfontein, and Rand Leases without electricity supply.
“City Power promises its customers that it is committed to restoring their supply as soon as they are able to,” said Mangena.
“The local power utility urged communities to partner with it in fighting electricity-related crimes which, like in this case, interfere with the supply of electricity.
“City Power encouraged communities to report suspicious activities around its electricity equipment.”
Meanwhile, a business owner has been arrested for the unlawful possession and connection of a stolen mini substation, which has been missing for 10 years.
