/ 24 November 2004

Technicians work through the night to restore power

City Power technicians worked through the night to rebuild a transformer that was burnt on Monday night and said on Wednesday they had been able to restore power to about 15% of Johannesburg’s western suburbs.

City Power Vice-President Silas Zimu said they had hoped to prioritise areas which had hospitals, but due to the severity of the fire damage at the Hurst Hill transformer, it had not been possible to be selective.

The fire broke out on Monday night and almost completely destroyed the transformer, which was installed in 1959.

”The technicians have worked through the night and we have managed to get more power back on,” Zimu said.

They hoped that at least 75% of the affected suburbs would have electricity later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the provincial health department kept its hospital alert in place, asking the public not to use the Helen Joseph or Coronationville hospitals but to rather go to the Chris Hani-Baragwanath, Leratong or Johannesburg hospitals.

Health spokesperson Popo Maja requested that non-emergency visits be postponed until power had been restored.

The hospitals did have generators but these were only for short-term emergency use and could not cope with long-term demands.

Johannesburg’s metro police had deployed traffic officials at ”dead” traffic lights, particularly where Ontdekkers Road enters Martindale and Sophiatown, and on roads leading to Auckland Park.

Spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said that so far the traffic was ”going and flowing”.

Meanwhile, a Melville resident who has had power restored said that the surrounding areas were still in darkness, ATMs were not working and supermarkets were closed and faced with perishing stock.

”Woollies [in Campus Square shopping centre] were the only ones with a generator and were doing a roaring trade,” she said.

The areas affected are Auckland Park, Melville, Hurst Hill, Westdene, Sophiatown, Newclare, parts of Delarey Park, Westbury, Bosmont, Claremont, Greymont, Crosby, Northcliff Extension 25, Rossmore, Richmond, Albertville and Martindale.

Power failures are common in Johannesburg and have been attributed to the city’s ageing infrastructure combined with a development boom. The structure is currently being upgraded. – Sapa