The newly installed substation in Crosby where City power claims the substation blew up in a resident’s face.
- A Crosby resident was electrocuted when he tried restoring power to the area during an outage.
- City Power said the man accessed the substation illegally.
- The residents said a City Power official showed them how to open the substation and how to restore the power.
Crosby residents are furious after City Power claimed that a man who was electrocuted while trying to restore electricity in the Johannesburg suburb had opened a substation illegally and that it had blown up in his face.
They say City Power lied and that an official had, in fact, given residents permission to open the substation and restore power whenever the switch trips. They said they were also provided with a key to access it.
They denied that the substation blew up in the man’s face and said he was electrocuted.
News24 went to the scene and found frustrated residents outside the substation.
They said they had experienced power outages 10 times a day, and that an official told them how to restore power to the area whenever the substation trips.
City Power was creating a false narrative, they alleged, because the power utility feared getting into trouble for not doing their job properly.
The substation which the residents said it was not vandalised has a note containing details of residents to contact in case it trips.
News24 Alfonso Nqunjana
A resident said:
It’s all lies and utter nonsense as the resident was only electrocuted and he was able to call his parents to inform them of what had happened before he passed out.
Mohammed Mansoor, who also lives in the area, added: “It’s a false narrative; they are slandering us residents. City Power gave us permission to put up the numbers for people to call in case the substation has tripped. We were shown by a City Power supervisor which switch is ours and how to turn it on.”
Another resident who did not want to be identified said the local councillor had contacted him and introduced him to a City Power supervisor.
“The supervisor instructed me to go into the substation area where he even showed us directly what to switch [on].
“We have the key. Here it is, and he further instructed me to lock it and he did not take the key with him,” the resident said.
Other residents presented News24 with pictures, recordings and an attendance register that recorded when the City Power official visited the area.
They said about 60 people attended a meeting where they were told why the substation trips and how to access it.
The substation is burdened by illegal connections from the nearby Slovo Park informal settlement and the residents said City Power hasn’t done anything about the illegal connections.
Residents said they told City power about the illegal connections that are burdening the substation and nothing has been done
News24 Alfonso Nqunjana
Illegal connections from the Slovo informal settlement are visible seen on trees, wooden poles and the ground as they stretch inside the Crosby area.
News24 Alfonso Nqunjana
Illegal connections from the Slovo informal settlement are visible seen on trees, wooden poles and the ground as they stretch inside the Crosby area.
News24 Alfonso Nqunjana
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After the resident was electrocuted, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said in a statement: “In a trail of WhatsApp group messages from impatient residents, the victim was warned by the councillor and other residents. It would seem the victim went ahead and tried to operate [the substation] when the substation blew up.”
The residents are demanding an apology from City Power.
News24 made several calls and sent WhatsApp messages to Mangena, but he never responded.
According to Michael Sun, the City of Joburg’s MMC for the environment infrastructure service department, frustration is justified after lengthy power outages due to failing infrastructure or cable theft.
However, it must never be the reason that individuals gain access to City Power facilities and try to restore power themselves, he added.
He said:
It is highly dangerous and may cause more damage to the infrastructure and result in longer outages.
Sun confirmed that the substation had tripped as a result of overloading from illegal connections.
He said technical teams were working round the clock to restore power to all communities experiencing outages due to technical faults, illegal connections and cable theft.
The man who was electrocuted has since been discharged from hospital, according to residents.
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