A City Power employee has been killed after an explosion at a mini sub-station in Wilro Park, Roodepoort, western Johannesburg.
The man and his colleagues had been attending to a blackout that was reported in some parts of the area yesterday.
Once they arrived they attempted to switch off the substation and it exploded throwing him a few metres away.
One of the residents along Molopo Road, who wished not to be named, said the explosion took place about 9am.
“I heard the explosion and then we immediately lost power in the house. I then went outside and found the man lying on the ground. I covered him with a blanket as he was still alive. He was speaking saying he is feeling cold. His clothes were burnt.
“His colleague immediately called the office and an ambulance ultimately arrived. They put a chopper not far from here which was waiting to take him to the hospital but the emergency personnel could not stabilise him.
“I watched them trying for a very long time to save his life but they did not win. It is really unbelievable that a man could wake up to go to work and something so terrible happens to him,” he said.
City Power acting CEO Tshifularo Mashava said sent her condolences to the family of the employee who was identified as Kallie Van Vuuren, a senior operator.
“It is a sad day for us at City Power as we lost one of our own, a hard working individual who dedicated his entire life serving the City of Johannesburg and City Power... I have ordered that an internal investigation be conducted into the incident and the cause of the explosion. We will provide the necessary support to the family of our colleague during this time of need,” Mashava said.
She added that Van Vuuren was working with another employee who escaped unharmed during the explosion.
“The area of Wilropark experienced an outage from earlier this morning, and the two employees were working to locate the fault along Molopo street when the switch from one of the mini-sub station blew up.
“Van Vuuren, who worked at City Power for over 19 years was badly injured and paramedics certified him dead on site..,” Mashava said.
Meanwhile, the company said it arrested 10 more people for stealing cables in various areas between Wednesday and Thursday. At least 35 people have been nabbed so far in July.
Spokesperson Isaack Mangena said on Wednesday, three people were arrested at Eikenhof area for theft of copper cable. The thieves targeted the electricity copper cables running from Kibbler Park to Eikenhof substation then to Naturena.
City Power security pounced on five people who were digging the cables in the area, three were arrested while the other two managed to escape.
“The suspects were taken to Mondeor police station where a criminal case of damage to, and theft of essential infrastructure was opened against the three. In their possession they were found with gas firearm, stolen copper cables, JMPD reflector vests, among others,” Mangena said.
In another incident, one person was arrested for theft in Turffontein area after being found with three 12 metre of core underground copper cables. On Wednesday night, five people were arrested at Regents Park after being found in possession of City Power material which included cables and fuses.
One of the people was an employee of a contractor enlisted at City Power.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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