CITY Power's security team exchanged fire with criminals living in a makeshift squatter camp under the M1 along Carr Street on Thursday night, 2 May.
This after the thugs were found attempting to steal a cable that burnt during a fire on the M1 highway on Wednesday, 1 May.
On Thursday night, a substantial amount of cable had already been cut and put in recycling bags, but the security personnel managed to recover it all.
Meanwhile, City of Joburg Emergency Management Services finally concluded its inspection on Thursday afternoon, 2 May and has granted City Power clearance to access the site.
City Power spokesman Isaac Mangena told Daily Sun the thieves were allegedly overwhelmed by the fire and fled the scene, but they left their working tools such as hacksaws, cutters and screwdrivers and a cellphone.
Mangena said tests must be conducted to assess the gas levels in the tunnels before the City Power team can start working to restore electricity supply to affected areas.
“The Johannesburg Roads Agency also needs to assess the structural integrity of the tunnel to ascertain that it will not collapse and harm technicians while on duty,” he said.
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He said that as soon as these two safety aspects have been addressed, City Power will start clearing the rubble and assessing the extent of the damage caused by the fire on the electricity infrastructure.
“The outcome will determine the scope of work and the estimated time of completion of repairs. The local power utility is continuing with the process of exploring alternative options to restore power supply to the affected customers by means of back-feeding through the Fort and Bree Substations. So far, we have managed to restore supply to Metro Centre, Liberty Life, Braampark and other office buildings in the Braamfontein area,” he said.
Mangena said City Power will continue to communicate developments to affected customers in Braamfontein, parts of the CBD, Newtown, Parktown and surround areas.
He said they'll only be able to provide the affected residents with an estimated time of restoration after an assessment has been made of the fire damage, which will be done on Friday, 3 May.
