Pretoria - Concerned residents in the east of Pretoria have been assured by the City of Tshwane that it will meet the electricity demand of the new Hazeldean development despite rampant power outages in the area in the past.
Residents have complained that it was already struggling to supply quality electricity to their residents.They complained that municipalities were operating on ageing and poor infrastructure that had been poorly maintained and needed upgrades.
An amount of R12.5 million was spent last year to repair Tshwane electricity infrastructure after it was damaged by the impact of Eskom’s load shedding.
Repairs for electric faults were done on the primary sub-stations such as Ifafi, Florapark, Parktown, K3, K1, Phumlani and the 132kV line current transformer at Pretoria North, which all had circuit breaker failures.
In the 2019/20 financial year, the City parted with an estimated R232m to fix similar damages.
The 200KVA transformer and associated equipment at Kwagga substation was affected by fire and cost the City R200m to repair.
At least R30m was spent on the Pyramid substation after it was struck by lightning and could not be aided by a weakened infrastructure.
Mayor Randall Williams, however, said the City had an “electricity master plan” informed by current and future developments.
“New infrastructure and upgrades are therefore built with new developments applications,” he said.
The road master plan of the node has also been approved.
“Our electricity department’s capacity-planning division is tracking demand. Projects are being executed in consultation with Eskom to ensure the demand is being managed.”
According to Williams, the municipal budget has over the last three years provided for ever-increasing budgets for the renewal of the infrastructure.
The project is going ahead even though areas in the eastern part of town have been plagued by power outages caused by, among other things, an increasing demand for electricity leading to overloads on the ageing infrastructure.
Dubbed “the East Capital”, the Hazeldean development is a R44 billion project being developed by the Hazeldean Consortium comprising development giant Abland and Sable Homes.
It will will be accessed off the N4, and will see the development of a new R90m road – the PWV17 – which will link the N4 and the R21.
The land held by the consortium covers 950 hectares. The project spans residential, commercial, retail, utility and mixed-use zones.
The development’s master plan includes a 100 000m² mall, along with hospitals, more educational facilities, retail and hospitality and tourism buildings.
The Hazeldean consortium is also in negotiations with the Gautrain Management Agency to motivate a station in the development as part of the next phase of roll-out for the rapid rail system.
Pretoria News