Many residents may have probably been wondering why many parts of Boksburg were plunged into darkness for almost nine hours today (November 16).
Homes and businesses were plunged into darkness from around midnight in Witfield, Lilianton, Berton Park, Delmore Park, Delmore Gardens and certain parts of Boksburg North.
According to the metro, the almost nine-hour unplanned blackouts were caused by a faulty power cable, which resulted in a failure at the Witfield substation, supplying the different affected areas.
Metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said technicians had been dispatched to attend to the power loss and pointed out that power was restored between 08:00 and 09:00 in most of the affected areas. But officials warned that it could still be a few hours before electricity is fully restored in the remaining areas, Lilianton and Delmore.
Dlamini explained these two areas are experiencing delays because of the rampant illegal connections by the nearby informal settlements.
The estimated time of power restoration in these two areas would be 17:00. As the supply may be restored at any time, residents are urged to treat their electricity supply points as live at all times.
The huge power interruption led to traffic light outages, which resulted in a nightmare on the busy Boksburg roads, including Rondebult Road, Rietfontein Road, Pretoria Road, Main Reef Road and many others.
Also Read: Power Crisis: Boksburg residents subjected to daily power outages
Also Read: Illegal connections leave many communities in the dark
