Late yesterday afternoon around 5.30pm, most parts of Krugersdorp were left in sudden darkness.
Residents took to Facebook and Twitter to voice their confusion and frustration. The power was restored to some areas around 9.30pm while other areas were left without power until early this morning.
Mogale City Local Municipality’s spokesperson, Nkosana Zali, tweeted that the fault was at Eskom’s side and that it was not load shedding.
Frikkie Erasmus, Mogale City’s Electrical Department Manager, told the News that the power outage was caused by theft at Eskom’s substation next to the newly renovated Condale Substation near West Village.
“The copper oil valve was stolen from a transformer in the substation. About 10 000 litres of oil spilled from the transformer, causing the security system to activate and switch off the substation.
“Eskom was called out to repair the damage late last night and between 2am and 4am this morning, power was restored to Mogale City.”
Eskom is still monitoring the situation.
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