JOHANNESBURG – Johannesburg's City Power said two houses have been demolished in Alexandra after it was discovered that they were built on top of electricity infrastructure.
The utility said some residents in the area have been left without power for several days, as the cables that had to be repaired were under the houses.
On Saturday, the two houses were demolished by the authorities and the community to enable City Power to access the cable fault and ensure the cables are exposed for repairs.
"Unfortunately, this has been the reason why the residents of Tsutsumane extension 7 and 8 spent several days without electricity. The outage was due to multiple cable faults which were located under about three informal houses built on top of the cable servitude," said City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena.
The utility said on Sunday, a further fault was discovered under a third house along the same stream, and it was in discussion with the community to demolish the house in order to fully restore power to the affected areas.
"Unfortunately this situation will further exarcebate the delays in the restoration of the Far East bank Distributor Extension 2," added City Power.
Houses have been demolished to make way for repairs. Trenching has commenced to expose cables that are faulty.
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' @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) April 16, 2023
City Power has urged communities to stop building on power lines and cables, as this is not only dangerous, but also delays the work of its technicians.
"The issue of illegal structures built on top of, and under the electricity infrastructure has been raised before with the community. City Power appeals for communities to avoid building structures under power lines and on top of cables."
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