Johannesburg’s City Power says its technicians are reluctant to attend to faulty electricity substations out of fear.
This after a team of City Power technicians was held hostage by residents on Tuesday night while attending to a faulty substation in the south of Johannesburg.
The residents were angry after they have been without electricity for three days.
City Power says its technicians had been deployed to repair the faulty Hopefield substation which had plunged several areas including Ennerdale and Lawley extensions into darkness.
They were eventually escorted out by the metro police.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says: “We understand the frustration, and we really apologise for the inconvenience. We have requested the JMPD to assist in escorting some of our teams especially in the south, in Lenasia area, to site until work is completed. We will not hesitate to withdraw our teams completely if we feel they are not safe – and the threats like the one in Hopefield continue. Unfortunately this will inconvenience the majority of the residents as electricity won’t be restored in time.”
Load shedding is currently at Stage 2 from 09:00 to 23:00 on Thursday night.
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