The City of Cape Town’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department carries out important and necessary electricity infrastructure maintenance on a daily basis in areas across the metro to ensure reliable electricity supply. From June to November 2021, some R230 million has been spent on electricity maintenance and upgrades. Today, 13 December 2021, the City’s new Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Beverley van Reenen visited the Helgarda substation in Hout Bay to see tangible examples of maintenance work being completed.
From Atlantis to Tafelsig, to the far South and the Helderberg area and all areas in between, the City’s electricity teams perform daily necessary maintenance and upgrade work to enhance the reliability and security of the electricity supply to the residents of the city.
This financial year the City has spent approximately R230 million on electricity maintenance and upgrades to its infrastructure. The work includes maintenance and upgrades to substations, infrastructure cables, and electricity kiosks among others.
‘Maintenance and upgrades of our infrastructure are vital in ensuring that the City’s electricity supply to residents is secure and reliable. When we do maintenance and upgrade work in areas, we inform residents well in advance so that they have sufficient time to plan for the required outage and so that our teams have enough time to do the work. Door to door pamphlets are also distributed when maintenance happens. We ask residents to plan accordingly, so that they make alternative arrangements for the power interruptions due to maintenance and to switch off electrical appliances to ensure their safety.
‘Unfortunately, vandalism and electricity infrastructure theft remains a challenge for this City, and we appeal to residents to assist us by reporting any suspicious activities near electricity infrastructure to both the SAPS and the City so that we can bring an end to infrastructure theft and vandalism. We often leave streetlights on in some cases to deter vandals. Sadly, often as soon as lights have been fixed, they are vandalised again. The City does deploy security and monitor hotspot areas where possible but we rely on our communities to alert us and to help us protect community infrastructure,’ said Councillor van Reenen.
The South African Police Service remains the lead authority in crime prevention.