City Power Board Chair Douglas Gibson says he is proud of the work the power utility’s staff are doing in delivering electricity to the people of Johannesburg in very difficult circumstances.
Gibson was speaking to residents of Honeydew Ridge, Roodepoort, in the West of Johannesburg, as they vow to take to the streets for a second day to protest almost a week of having no electricity.
The residents have expressed frustration at what they say is City Power’s delayed response as well as untruthful social media updates.
Zama Zama Activities threaten Substation to collapse.^MM pic.twitter.com/RL9NvpLmHO
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) February 16, 2023
Gibson has expressed regret at the community’s plight but says the power utility is trying its best. Gibson says City Power needs more money from its stakeholder, the Johannesburg City Council to improve aging infrastructure in areas such as Roodepoort and to employ skilled personnel.
“Yesterday there were people digging with pick and shovel, trying to get down to where the cable is buried and they were in the water, the cable is buried six feet down and they were busy looking for a fault. And I also saw the industrial area of Roodepoort. I saw the subsidence of the ground and it looked to me that it is possible that that whole substation will sink into the ground all of these things conspire to make it extremely difficult,” says Gibson.
