After 17 hours, at 19:00 on January 21, all areas that had been affected by the power outage in West Acres in Mbombela were restored.

According to a ward councillor, Thea Rix, municipal workers detected the cable fault that needed to be repaired first before restoring electricity to the affected households. “Some residents were without power for 17 hours, but they are happy that they finally have electricity again. Municipal workers will monitor the situation to ensure all areas have power,” she said.

Parts of West Acres were without electricity from 01:37, due to suspected cable theft in the area.