Company Announcement -RESIDENTS of Airport Valley in Port Elizabeth’s Walmer Township in Port Elizabeth are safer and better lit this winter, thanks to a multimillion rand electrical reticulation project that has provided a thousand shacks with formal connections and prepaid electricity meters. The project, designed to deliver a safe and more reliable supply of electricity, was commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Electricity and Energy Directorate in December 2014 and is on track for completion this month (July).

Professional electrical engineer Bruce Munnings, of AfriCoast Consulting Engineers, which has been involved since the inception of the project said the pre-existing strings of illegal connections had been highly dangerous and unreliable. “The project included planting poles, stringing insulated aerial bundled conductor,  installing pole mounted transformers and pole top distribution boxes with split type prepaid meters, as well as the installation of ready boards and energy efficient lights inside the informal dwellings.

“Essentially this is a temporary solution for shack dwellers, but AfriCoast considers it an important stepping stone in providing support to the poor, while they wait for the construction of better low-cost housing,” Munnings said. “Generally, once formal housing is built in these areas, the electrical connections may be transferred from the informal shacks to the new formal housing units.” Airport Valley residents Gladys Nomvuyo Makubalo and her brother Rueben Mangaliso Makubalo said they and other family members had been scared to go out in the dark in the early mornings in case they accidentally came into contact with live wire.

“We call the illegal wires izinyoka (snakes) because you never know when one might ‘bite’. I know of children who have been electrocuted. Goats and dogs are regularly killed because they accidentally chew or touch live wires. We are very happy with this progress,” said Reuben Makubalo. “The proper connections will provide a steadier supply and will be a big improvement.” Munnings said approximately 1000 houses will be safely connected through the network, which will use more than 30 kilometres of cable once it is completed. “Airport Valley is one of a number of informal shack areas in Walmer. These are not great environments to live in, with complex social and infrastructural problems, and difficult to access. We needed to look for practical and applicable ways in which to apply modern and innovative technological solutions using the resources that were available,” he said.

“Now, through this electrification project, not only is the Metro drastically improving the quality of life for residents, but it will also cut down on the theft of electricity, which is estimated at 50 000kWh per month, and wiring from streetlight networks. “Without adequate electrical infrastructure, people have simply strung connections dangerously together at random. The children will be able to play safely in the streets without danger of being electrocuted once the illegal connections have all been removed.” Aerial photography helped the team to identify illegal connections and plan for formal electrification by translating the scaled photographs, with roads, dwellings and existing electrical infrastructure, into computer aided drawings (CAD).

“We worked with various stakeholders and service providers to ensure that a number of local contractors, local labour and SMMEs were involved in the project. Teams working with AfriCoast on the project include Eya-Bantu, Ukwabelana Electrical, Zama Traffic Signals and Nqanqolo Trading.”