Power update: Contractors restore power after Van Dyk Park hit by outage
After not having power for a lengthy period, dozens of angry residents took to the streets to protest the electricity outage crippling their homes and businesses.
Dozens of fed-up Van Dyk Park residents took to the streets to express their anger over the prolonged power outage.
Municipal workers have restored electricity to Van Dyk Park after attempted cable theft plunged the suburb into a prolonged power outage on the weekend.
The Advertiser revisited the area on February 20 and found the teams digging to replace the damaged cables.
The metro estimated that it would take a few hours to repair the damaged infrastructure, and the team had the supply restored to all affected residents by 14:30 on February 20.
According to residents, the area had been without power since early February 19.
The metro has apologised for the blackout, which it blamed on attempted cable theft.
“We are aware of the outage, and all efforts are being made to restore power after we had an attempted cable theft that resulted in equipment failure at one of our substations. The burnt busbars are doing dry-ice cleaning,” explained metro spokesperson Zweli Dlamini.
Dlamini noted with concern the lasting effect of cable theft on the City’s power network.
“Cable theft continues to be a major problem in our operations as it results in power disruptions to our customers across the City.”
Municipal contract workers work to restore power after the City’s power network was hit by cable thieves in the wee hours of Sunday, plunging many homes into darkness.
Van Dyk Park was hit by a major power outage after an attempted cable theft incident.
Municipal contract workers work to restore power after the City’s power network was hit by cable thieves in the wee hours of Sunday, plunging many homes into darkness.
Municipal contract workers work to restore power after the City’s power network was hit by cable thieves in the wee hours of Sunday, plunging many homes into darkness.
The blackout sparked protests in Van Dyk Park.
Municipal contract workers work to restore power after the City’s power network was hit by cable thieves in the wee hours of Sunday, plunging many homes into darkness.
Seething anger
After not having electricity for a lengthy period, dozens of angry residents took to the streets on Sunday to protest the electricity outage crippling their homes and businesses.
Frustrated Van Dyk Park residents gathered on the corner of Milkwood and Mimosa streets on Sunday afternoon to express their anger over a prolonged power outage.
They blockaded the stretch of Barry Marais Road, near Mimosa Street, disrupting the traffic as they chanted ‘We want our power back’.
Most residents questioned the metro’s delays in finding the fault, and the ’failure’ to communicate the issues and inform residents when power will be restored.
No one has been arrested for the attack on the power network.
After the protest on Sunday, the city restored power to half of the suburb (the upper section) on Sunday night. The lower part, however, remained in the dark until this afternoon (February 20).
In our recent reports, the metro confirmed that cable theft had seen many Boksburg areas left powerless for long periods. The most affected areas include Groeneweide, Reiger Park, Witfield, Dawn Park, Windmill Park and Klippoortjie.
