More power cuts for Soweto

File photo: Mike Hutchings

File photo: Mike Hutchings

Published Jul 29, 2014

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Johannesburg - An electricity pylon that collapsed in Slovoville, Soweto, may only be reconstructed by the end of the week, and power cuts will continue until then, Eskom said on Tuesday.

“An Eskom technical team is still on site to reconstruct the towers, which may take an extended period of time. Eskom foresees that all work on the structures will be concluded by the end of the week,” it said in a statement.

The power utility would cut power to residential areas for three hours at a time until the pylons had been repaired.

The tower collapsed on Sunday resulting in power cuts in areas including Meadowlands, Snake Park, Dobsonville Gardens, Bramfischerville, and Protea Glen.

At the time, Eskom spokeswoman Reneiloe Semenya said the collapse was due to the theft of components from the tower. The collapsed tower damaged the one next to it.

The damage was estimated at R2.5 million.

“Eskom is increasing security visibility in identified high-risk areas across the province, although it is not possible to have security at every tower and other electricity installations,” it said.

“We therefore can only reiterate that we depend on our communities to report any criminal acts, theft of structure components, cable theft, illegal connections, and meter tampering.”

Sapa

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