Power to parts of Boksburg that were affected by a massive fire at an Atlasville substation would be restored by 5pm on Wednesday, the Ekurhuleni municipality said — but some suburbs are set to wait until next Wednesday to have electricity restored.
”It is estimated that the Anderbolt, Boksburg North, Witfield, Jet Park, Jansen Park and sections of Bartlett will have the supply restored by approximately 5pm this afternoon [Wednesday],” said spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.
Dlamini said Ekurhuleni mayor Duma Nkosi had visited the Witkoppie substation on Wednesday following the fire that broke out on Tuesday, leaving Boksburg North and its surrounding areas without power.
”This is a serious incident and it makes perfect sense that I drop whatever I am doing to come here and determine what is being done about the situation and how soon our ratepayers will have the power back,” said Nkosi.
Dlamini said two power transformers, the accompanying metal-clad indoor switchboard, control panels and a substation building housed in the Witkoppie substation in Atlas Road, Atlasville, caught fire, leaving major industrial and residential areas without electricity supply.
Disaster
The municipality’s general manager for electricity and energy, Mark Wilson, said the fire started at about 2.30pm on Tuesday and was extinguished by 6pm. ”At this point we only have our suspicions that it was an attempted cable theft outside the substation area,” he said.
Three other substations in the area that were fed by the Kempton Park substation were offline as a result of the fire. Wilson said once power had been restored to those three, 80% of the power would be restored to the area.
One transformer at Witkoppie started to smoulder again on Wednesday afternoon, and the fire department was called in control the situation. ”One transformer is still very hot, but it’s not really affecting our progress. We are still on target in terms of getting 80% [of power] back,” Wilson said.
The remaining 20% of power, to be restored to the Witkoppie substation, could take up to a week as the site had been badly damaged by the fire. The areas affected by the remaining 20% are Atlasville, Park Haven, Clear Water Estate, Caromene, Impala Park, Witkoppie Ridge, Bardene, Beyers Park and Westwood.
Dlamini said it is estimated that power to the areas will be restored by next Wednesday evening.
It is estimated that the damage to the substation is at least R25-million to R30-million.
Shops closed
Meanwhile, the marketing director of the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, Jazzman Mahlakgane, said that while a number of businesses and shops in the area had closed down, it was ”business as usual” at the hotel.
”The K90 Mall [in the area] has closed down completely, but for us, it’s business as usual because we have generators running,” he said.
A shopper at the East Rand Mall said all shops in the mall were closed, but that the adjoining Pick ‘n Pay store was open. She added that traffic in the Boksburg area had also been affected because the traffic lights were not working.
Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago said pointsmen had been posted at major intersections to manage the traffic. He said traffic was expected to be more severely affected on Thursday as fewer cars were travelling on the roads on Wednesday due to the public-service strike.
”Especially from tomorrow it will be a big issue as there will be a full volume of traffic,” he said. — Sapa