Thieves plunge Boksburg North into darkness
The switch gear at the municipality’s energy department near Cason was also damaged.
Residents of Boksburg North were forced to endure an almost four-day power outage after thieves targeted the substation supplying power to the area.
The Advertiser understands that power has been restored at about 10am on May 24.
According to one of the affected residents, Renier van Rensburg, their lights went off at about 8.30pm on Thursday, May 20. Areas that were left in the dark include households and businesses in the eastern part of Boksburg North, between Trichardts and 15th Avenue, as well as Paul Smith Road and part of Andebolt.
“It’s terrible. People are already struggling to make ends meet, and because of the outage they had to throw away their food.”
Ward 22 councillor Ruhan Robinson said thieves forced opened the substation’s door to gain entry and stole the substation’s earthing system, and this led to the massive blackout.
“Technicians fixed the damaged earthing system on Friday, but when they switch the system on, the circuitry tripped due to faulty cables.
“The switch gear at the municipality’s energy department near Cason was also damaged. Technicians worked to restore power bit-by-bit until all the areas were back on today (May 24),” explained Robinson.
Also Read: Power Crisis: Boksburg residents subjected to daily power outages
