Residents and business owners on Bellavista Street in Bellavista endured a week without reliable electricity after a burnt circuit breaker unit disrupted supply to several homes and businesses.

The outage began on May 11 and persisted until May 20.

During the period, a number of households were left without power, and local businesses were forced to halt operations.

The power box on Bellavista Street exploded and remained burning until residents put out the electrical fire and switched off their power supply.

City Power attended to the matter, and the power box was fixed. Two circuit breakers were missing, and a bridge wire was used to restore power temporarily.

One of those hit hardest was Michael Anthony of Sebene Service Centre, whose workshop experienced major electrical issues that brought business activity to a standstill.

“We couldn’t operate properly for days. It affected customers and income,” Anthony said.

City Power technicians responded and completed repairs to the circuit breakers, restoring the electricity supply to the affected area.

A City Power technician, Lucas Maluleke, said, “We identified the fault quickly and replaced the damaged components to ensure the network is safe and stable again. We understand how disruptive these outages are, and we’re glad to have power back for the community.”

City Power has not yet confirmed the cause of the burnt unit, but said repairs were carried out to prevent further interruptions.