City Power says it has received more than 2,700 calls from customers experiencing outages across the city.
The power outages were as a result of heavy rains that battered parts of the city on Sunday.
The power entity said it was under severe strain.
Roodepoort is the hardest hit with 906 open calls, followed by Reuven with 402.
The wet conditions have worsened outages and are hampering restoration efforts as teams battle to access areas that remain waterlogged,
— Isaac Mangena, City Power spokesperson
The Inner City had 309 after losing Observatory and Orchards substations and Hursthill recorded 317 calls.
Randburg, Lenasia, Alexandra and Midrand have also been hit with outages, with a total of 849 calls logged.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the storm resulted in a lightning strike at the Northcliff Water Tower, which has affected supply and interrupted operations.
“The wet conditions have worsened outages and are hampering restoration efforts as teams battle to access areas that remain waterlogged,” said Mangena.
“The prolonged rainfall continues to affect our ability to respond timeously to faults and maintain a stable electricity supply as technicians navigate hazardous terrain, limited access routes and unsafe working environments.”
Several roads have been closed for safety, as some low-lying bridges were flooded.
“We also have fallen trees blocking roads in various parts of the city. Before our teams can access some of these areas, we must wait for the clearing of routes and removal of debris. These disruptions have also caused delays in responding to outages as quickly as possible,” Mangena said.
He said heavy moisture causes more underground cable faults, making detection difficult as equipment struggles in waterlogged conditions.
“Digging to repair underground cables is also delayed where trenches are flooded, adding to extended outage durations. From this morning’s status report, it is clear that the system remains under pressure across multiple parts of the city.
“Although delays have been unavoidable due to the adverse weather and access limitations, City Power has deployed additional technical teams to support heavily impacted areas and accelerate restorations. Safety remains a priority and our technicians cannot operate in areas where there is a high risk of electrical flashover, unstable ground or exposed live infrastructure,” Mangena said.
Sowetan
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