Pretoria - Tshwane municipal council chief whip, Christo van den Heveer, also a ward 44 councillor, has expressed hope that the troubled Wapadrand substation in Pretoria east could be switched on this year.
This was as a three-year project to rebuild and capacitate the substation was still under way.
In March last year, mayor Randall Williams launched a R134 million project to refurbish the substation that suffered two fire incidents, which subjected communities to prolonged power outages.
Reflecting on service delivery issues for 2022 in ward 44, Van den Heever recalled that in December 2021, residents in Pretoria east were plunged into darkness as a result of a fire outbreak at the substation.
In a video clip posted on the DA Gauteng North region Facebook page, he added that similar problems at the substation were experienced up to May last year, and councillors in the affected wards “decided to request the auditing of the substation, which was done”.
He, however, said that since May last year, there has been a huge improvement and minimum power outages in the ward.
“We had a problem with the highlands substation, which affected Garsfontein, but that was also sorted out,” he said.
This was in November when a transformer exploded at the substation, affecting areas such as Waterkloof Glen, Waterkloof Heights, Menlyn and Garsfontein.
According to Van den Heever, the main challenge of his ward has been the power supply situation.
“A lot of the stuff has been dealt with on a day-to-day basis: your sewage, your street lights, roadworks, fixing of potholes, and so on. But it was a difficult year because we all know what the city’s finances look like. The budget was not always available to fix all the issues.”
He said his ward was in the process of submitting all the Integrated Development Plan requests at the moment and was “sure that it will be addressed in the next financial year”.
Regarding the rebuilding of the Wapadrand substation, he said: “Hopefully, we will be able to switch on the new Wapadrand substation (but) I am not sure whether that will happen.
“The good news is that at the moment, the mayor kept his promise with no load shedding. It is something to look forward to; having the new substation working.”
It is expected that the rebuilding of Wapadrand would address its capacity to deal with the demands of power consumption in the area.
Pretoria News