The Emfuleni municipality is under attack from people targeting substations.It is losing millions of rand due to theft and vandalism.Two substations were hit on Wednesday night in Vanderbijlpark. The substations are a stone's throw away from each other, and were targeted during load shedding.
"We rushed and quickly battled the blaze. We managed to extinguish the fire before it spread," she said.Verbeek said they were worried that funds, which were meant to protect infrastructure, could be diverted elsewhere.Gauteng municipality denies it has cashflow issues, says February salaries were paid 'this morning'We are aware of a trend done by gangs operating during load shedding schedules. This has been happening for the past two to three years.
"Emfuleni is doing little to protect infrastructure. Residents and businesses are trying to protect our substations," said Verbeek. Emfuleni's acting communications manager, Makhosonke Sangweni, claimed they were spending a lot of money on refurbishment and replacing the old transformers. The municipality disputed his claims and accused the man of attempting to steal electricity cables, which is why he was electrocuted.Meanwhile, a cable was severed at the Eskom's Tutuka power station this week as it was finalising preparations to return Unit 5 to service.
ntwaagae Why can't the government protect this valuable asset and declare cable theft economic terrorism
ntwaagae Capitalism is our number one enermy ..sabotaging ourselves