Power back after blackout
Power returns to most homes in the east of Pretoria and DA mayoral candidate says there is a reason for the blackout.
Gopolang Chawane
Power has been restored to homes in the east of Pretoria following a five-day blackout recently.
Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, confirmed the power was restored to most areas on Tuesday evening, following a five-day blackout.
Mashigo said the storm on Thursday night of the previous week and a large backlog in maintenance could have been the contributing factor for the five-day blackout.
He said labour dispute issues were some of the reasons the blackout was not responded to quick enough.
A resident in Amos Street, Colbyn, who asked not to be named, confirmed to Rekord that the power returned on Tuesday at 19:00.
She said she was still unsure if the storm was the reason for the power outage because residents had received no communication from the metro.
Several parts of Pretoria had been without electricity for five days, confirmed DA mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga last Tuesday.
He said the affected areas were Lynnwood, Colbyn, Groenkloof, Brooklyn, Riviera and Rietondale.
“The cause of the problem appeared to be a strike by workers in the electricity department, resulting in no maintenance and no repairs,” it said in a statement by the DA.
Last week’s heavy rain storm wreaked havoc with electricity supply to several areas and Msimanga said the wide outage was a clear indication of the metro neglecting infrastructure.
He mentioned a large business in the area had been shut down by the electricity disruption, and 250 workers remained at home.
“This business is an international finance and advisory firm, which should not have Tshwane’s failures of government negatively impact its operations in our city,” said Msimanga.
“Tshwane should be open for business, instead its crumbling infrastructure under ANC governance risks chasing investments and jobs away.”
Msimanga said it was no coincidence that the power outage crisis struck after heavy rainfall last Thursday as failing infrastructure in the metro was more and more exposed to weather disruptions.
“Without maintenance, electricity infrastructure cannot survive extreme weather.”
Pretoria residents remained without power since last Friday only for the power to return on Tuesday.
Embassies in the area reported to be without power included South Sudan, Botswana and the Polish embassy.
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