The restoration of electricity to several areas serviced by the West Acres Substation after its overhaul of the last two days was already at 90% at about 03:30 this morning, January 9.

The City of Mbombela’s (CoM) spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the technicians worked overnight to ensure the restoration, testing and switching on happened as soon as possible. He confirmed there was a delay, but attributed it to limited staff and a possible cable fault in some of the areas where the electricity was not back on yet. “We have since located a fault on the N’tulo line and are working on it. Due to limited staff, we requested a contractor to assist. However, we suspect a possible cable fault along the Alibama Street and Heuwelsig, but we are investigating,” Ngala said.

He added that this contractor would also assist with the challenges at Heuwelsig.

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Meanwhile, Mbombela ward councillor Thea Rix said updates would frequently be sent out as progress was made.

The CoM previously explained that the installation of new panels and maintenance was essential because of the ageing infrastructure that was said to be at least over 50 years old.

The work started at 09:00 on Tuesday, January 7, and was scheduled to be completed at 17:00 by Wednesday, January 8. However, some delays caused the first areas to be put back online only at 01:00 this morning.

The municipality has asked for the community’s patience while it finalises the outstanding work.