Illegal property encroachments over underground electricity servitudes are obstructing fault repairs and impacting network reliability, City Power warns. The utility says it will no longer conduct repairs in areas where structures have been built over municipal service networks unless residents pay for rerouting cables.

“We have observed an alarming trend of illegal constructions and property extensions that go beyond allocated residential space and into areas designated for municipal service networks,” says Isaac Mangena, General Manager for Public Relations and Communication at City Power. “This problem not only goes against city regulations but also hampers our capacity to carry out necessary repairs and maintenance.”

City Power cites multiple cases in Alexandra where access restrictions have delayed critical repairs. In one instance, faulty low-voltage cables reported in December remain unresolved due to structures built over the servitude preventing technicians from conducting repairs. In another case, a medium-voltage cable fault caused an area outage in January and accessibility challenges delayed repairs for over a week. A subsequent outage, linked to the same fault, resulted in more than 24 hours of downtime. A separate incident saw the replacement of a pole-mounted transformer delayed by nearly a week due to surrounding constructions obstructing access to the infrastructure.

Mangena says the situation has forced the utility to take a firm stance. “We cannot continue to accommodate these expenses. It is for this reason that we have resolved to temporarily halt repairs in affected areas until residents resolve the issue.”

One option available to residents is to apply for network rerouting through the Alexandra Service Delivery Centre. “By ensuring clear access for our maintenance teams, we can improve the efficiency and reliability of electricity supply to the community,” Mangena says.