Illegal shacks hamper restoration of power in Alex

City Power says restoring power in Alexandra north of Johannesburg, is being hampered by illegal structures near the switching substation.

 Spokesperson Isaac Mangena says technicians were busy on Wednesday afternoon to restore power to most parts of Alexandra .

“Following the fire that gutted a switching substation on Tuesday evening, plunging almost half of the township into darkness.”

The incident affected power supply to areas between 2nd Avenue and 18th Avenue from Vasco Da Gama and Selbourne streets.

Mangena says the city is facing difficulties to access some of the cables that were damaged by the fire because illegal shacks have been built on top of ground cables are installed.

“We are negotiating with the people who live in those shacks to removed them so we can do our work.”