The City of Mbombela (CoM) said some of the streets are still without power due to the damaged cables at West Acres Substation, but the municipal workers are on site working on resolving the problem. The CoM suspects cable theft, but the team is working hard to reconnect everyone.

The following mini substations and streets are still out – Kelkiewwyn, Pomelo, Kija, Orange,  Tangelo, Ibis, Loerie, lower part of Fitzpatrick,  Saffier, Van Rooyen, Felijoa, Coffee, Golden Acress, Banket, Silbury Hill, Sandy Villas, Ruby, Banket East and Alabama.

ALSO READ: Cable theft the reason for West Acres Substation damage and breakdown

While the ward councillors in the affected area, Sanley van der Merwe and Thea Rix, declared that they were not an electrical engineers, they will try to explain to the community at large about the situation.

“The team was onsite at 07:00 this morning to start repairs on the 140m cable. As the team continued fixing, more faults were identified.

“Throughout the day they were faced with one fault after the other. Replacing the entire cable and continuing to test and repair will take a very long time. A decision had to be made on a different solution,” they said.

ALSO READ: Some areas of Mbombela will be without electricity due to damaged substation

They added that the Steiltes and West Acres overhead line was identified as an alternative option. This line is actually a fall-over line, but not operational at the moment. They then decided to rather use this line, connect to Kelkiewyn and restore power that way. The repair replacement of the 140m line is definitely the more stable solution and must be fixed, but at the moment the other option will provide connection in a shorter period of time,” they said.

“We understand the frustration. Please know that the technical team worked non-stop to do everything they can. This problem was also not caused by Mbombela Local Municipality.

“We will continue to monitor the progress and provide updates if and when anything changes,” they said.