THERE is no electricity in some parts of Joburg.
According to City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena, services in the Joburg CBD were affected by the explosion on Wednesday, 19 July.
Mangena said three substations were affected: Bree, Braamfontein and Johnware are currently off until the Joint Command Team, consisting of CoJ Emergency Services, Disaster Management and other CoJ and provincial units, gives the go-ahead.
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He said: “From the preliminary assessments, it does not look like the three substations were affected immediately after the explosion at about 5.30pm as power in some areas was still on.
“However, the substations were load shed at 6pm until 8pm, and our teams decided that we should not switch them on for fear that it might ignite with reports of suspected gas leak in the vicinity,” Mangena said.
He said that the Bree substation is only a few meters from the area where the impact happened, and that it is suspected that its structural integrity may have been compromised.
“Our team of engineers and technicians are on site doing assessments and tests on the network to get the extent of the impact on the electricity infrastructure.
“Unfortunately, a City Power employee was injured during the explosion on her way to work, and she is one of those currently hospitalised."
Mangena said their teams will not respond to power outages in the CBD until the area is declared safe for access and work.
“We will update customers on the developments in terms of electricity supply, and the City of Joburg leadership will give regular updates on all the services impacted, including electricity,” Mangena added.
