Yesterday afternoon I conducted a site visit to the Inner City Restoration Centre, and I am happy to announce that as of this morning, 100% of power has been restored after cable theft plunged parts of the inner city in to darkness for 11 days.
Toxic chemicals and fire prevented City Power officials from immediately entering the narrow, 9km long tunnel to restore power, and only at around 22:00 on Tuesday (12 Sept 2017), City Power technicians were able to restore electricity supply to areas which were affected by the power interruption in the Johannesburg City Centre.
Unfortunately, electricity tripped during the restoration period, and Rahima Moosa (Jeppe) Street, Plein Street, Pritchard Street, Kerk Street and Lillian Ngoyi (Bree) Street were affected again.
By yesterday, only a small portion of Plein Street was still down, and by this morning all power has been restored.
We condemn the vandalism and theft of City Infrastructure by these organized copper cable syndicates, and we call upon the general public to be vigilant and report all suspicious activities to 0860 562 874.
Law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert to fight this scourge and our specialised JMPD unit – whose exclusive focus will be to target these syndicates who deal in in stolen copper cables – will also ensure that a professionalised approach is taken to ensure purpotrators are held to account.
I would like to thank the officials and contractors from City Power for their commitment under very challenging conditions, and our sincere gratitude goes to all affected residents and businesses owners who bared with us while our officials worked around the clock to undo the unscrupulous work of criminals.