The Mayor for the City of Joburg, Herman Mashaba, announced the launch of the Sebenza substation yesterday, 7 February.

The substation was built to deter power outages as a result of electricity demand exceeding the supply in Johannesburg.

“This also goes a long way in bolstering economic activity throughout the City, particularly with Johannesburg being a strategic driver for Gauteng and South Africa’s growth for jobs and ease of doing business,” Mashaba said.

“The City invested in excess of R1.2 billion for the new state of the art substation to benefit residents living in Modderfontein, Gresswold, Sandringham, Alexandra, Athol Oaklands, Rosebank, Melrose and Parkhurst.”

According to his statement, infrastructure has been built decades ago for communities that have grown substantially over the years, resulting in 27 per cent of the City’s bulk transformers running past their lifespan.

Over 2017 and 2018, this infrastructure produced 177 000 low voltage outages.

“This project is rooted in the Diphetogo strategy of addressing the enormous inherited infrastructure backlogs that plague communities with service delivery disruptions,” he said.

“The prioritisation of this work in the 2018/19 budget will begin to achieve the long-term turnaround of the City and the change demanded by residents.

“The significance of the work at the [substation] is intrinsically linked to the broader project of change in our City.”

What do you think about this launch and the impact communities? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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