City Power to spend R23m on M1 tunnel fire repairs
Repair work to ensure the restoration of power to areas still affected by last week's M1Bridge underground tunnel fire is continuing.
On Wednesday, City Power officials said it could take up to 20 May to fully restore the damaged cables.
However, the power utility said alternative measures to give affected residents reprieve were being prioritised.
City Manager Floyd Brink gave an update on developments, where he confirmed that the Braamfontein sub-station, which was affected by the blaze, was still offline pending repairs.
Areas still without power include large parts of Braamfontein, Newtown and Parktown west.
City Power said it was considering supplying power on a rotational basis, to share the available load, until repair work has been completed.
Meanwhile, Brink lamented the increasing cases of sabotage on the city’s infrastructure.
“The City of Johannesburg is concerned by the high level of sabotage of our infrastructure which is impacting our ability to render services.”
He said a criminal complaint had been lodged with the police.
Brink confirmed City Power had been given a case number and would be working closely with the police.
During inspection of the affected infrastructure last week, City Power officials found about 300 metres of cable had been stolen, which they said was likely the cause of the fire.
Officials also found tools seemingly used to cut the cables near the site.
At the same time, while engineers have cleared the M1 Bridge for traffic, some roads beneath the bridge remain closed to the public.
