Lack of spares leaves large parts of Boksburg without power for days
Large parts of Boksburg has been plunged into darkness for third day as the metro is running out of parts to fix its electricity system in the area.
Amid the rain and cold temperatures, thousands of residents in Boksburg CBD, Boksburg South, parts of Parkrand, Parkdene and Cinderella remain without electricity after a cable fault caused a massive blackout on Sunday (October 29).
Residents told Boksburg Advertiser that on Sunday they reported a power outage at around 09:00 and it was blamed on a cable fault.
Emergency repairs were made and power was restored at about 22:00 that day, but it then went off again about an hour later.
According to the metro, the prolonged outage is the result of a lack of 33KV transition cable joints in their stores.
However, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel because officials have finally managed somehow to procure the required material – and the material was expected to be delivered yesterday (October 31).
The metro pointed out that, weather permitting, repair work was expected to start immediately after the 33KV transition cable joints have been delivered. The metro said the repair work would take about eight hours. Residents reported that power was restored in some of the affected areas last night, but it then went off again this morning.
Enraged resident Chrizelda Ross said while she and her family are still frustrated with planned rolling blackouts, this long-lasting power outage has created a nightmare situation for them.
“We have gone three days without bathing properly. We can’t continue to live like this; it’s just a nightmare. Some of us have schoolchildren who are writing exams and battling to prepare and do their homework in the dark.
“The engineers and ward councillor told us about an estimated restoration time, but the technicians have failed to get our power back within this,” she said.
These suburbs are among the city’s areas that have been prone to frequent unplanned power outages, which take hours to resolve. The metro previously blamed these outages on cable thefts and massive power surges or overcurrent as a result of load-shedding on the city’s electricity system that was not designed to handle the frequent compulsory load-shedding.
Speaking during the recent extraordinary council meeting in Germiston, Ekurhuleni Finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga said the city is doing its best with limited resources to stabilise the system and deal with those who are tampering with the power grid.
Also Read: Substation fire: Large parts of Boksburg face power outage of up to seven days
