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Last week, on 6 February, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba was accompanied by the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Cllr Nico de Jager, on an oversight visit to the Roosevelt Park Substation which has been undergoing significant upgrades by City Power to the tune of R133 million.
This substation has been at the heart of many of the surrounding residents’ frustration as power outages became more and more frequent over the years. Barely three months into office as the Executive Mayor, Mashaba was confronted with residents protesting the overwhelming amount of outages they had endured.
The reality is that the equipment at this substation, like many others across the City, is 65 years old.
Refurbishments to these have not been completed in over 25 years.
Mashaba said this shocking figure “is exactly what burdens the current administration”.
He said: “With a R170 billion, 10-year infrastructure backlog, it makes the job of sustaining the current power supply that much more difficult. The upgrade of this substation is therefore very important, not only to these affected residents, but also to the entire City of Johannesburg’s electrical network.
I am happy to report that the substation upgrade is also now 60% complete, and due to be finalised by September this year.”
The upgrade will include a new 88kv line feeding from the Delta Substation, provide greater redundancy and will stabilise the network for the next 20 years.
