Tshwane Executive Mayor, Cilliers Brink, says the City of Tshwane is prioritising the restoration of power to all areas affected by the collapse of pylons on the N4 Freeway in Pretoria East on Sunday.

“We understand the frustration of residents and we are working on temporary measures to ensure that we ease the burden of prolonged power outages,” Brink said.

Brink noted that the city is working with internal and Eskom teams to restore electricity in a two-pronged approach.

“Internally, we are working to backfeed (reroute) our power supply to service-affected areas, where possible, while Eskom teams are working with us to replace the electricity pylons that fell over.

“So far, we have made significant progress in restoring power to about 40% to 50% of the areas where the infrastructure is in a good condition and responsive to backfeeding. I have asked officials to find a way to reconnect as many areas as technically possibly.”

The mayor emphasised the importance of helping communities, including Mamelodi, Eersterust, Queenswood, Waltloo Industrial Area and others that have been without power for several days.

“This approach may lead to the implementation of rotational loading in areas that are already connected in Pretoria East. The city will communicate further on this matter when we reach this stage,” the Mayor said.

The Mayor also expressed his appreciation to the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, for agreeing to meet with the City on Tuesday afternoon, where he committed to support the municipality, as they work to restore power to residents.

“The Minister further indicated that he would raise the issue of electricity infrastructure security with the Cabinet. The city welcomes the commitments from the Minister and assistance from Eskom, which has dispatched three teams to assist the city,” Brink said.

Bus operations

Meanwhile, the city announced that bus operations will no longer be impacted, following the delivery of fuel at its bus depots.

The city had earlier in the day indicated that it would run reduced operations as of 12 April 2023, until further notice.

City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said with this latest and positive development regarding the delivery of fuel, the Tshwane Bus Services (TBS) will run full operations that will be on schedule.

“The city is thankful for the progress made in this regard as it will bolster the needed commuting of TBS passengers. We would like to express our gratitude to the loyal passengers of our service and apologise for any inconvenience caused,” Mashigo said.

Source: South African Government News Agency