City Power faces delays in restoring power to Marshalltown
The outage, affecting parts of Marshalltown, began on Tuesday after multiple faults at the Albert West and Market Street distributors.
Picture: Michal Jarmoluk/Pixabay
JOHANNESBURG - Residents who have been left in the dark in Joburg’s inner city will remain without power at least until Monday evening, as utility City Power struggles to replace stolen cables and repair damaged infrastructure.
The outage, affecting parts of Marshalltown, began on Tuesday after multiple faults at the Albert West and Market Street distributors.
City power says cable theft and faulty equipment have complicated restoration efforts.
Repairs were initially expected to be completed by Thursday, but limited access to affected buildings and the theft of about 260 metres of cable have caused delays.
Procurement of replacement material has also been hampered by warehouses being closed over the weekend.
City power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the theft has made an already difficult situation worse:
“The theft of the cable then exacerbated our efforts to try and restore electricity, it’s 260m of cable that was stolen, and it requires material to be replaced, and we are struggling to access that material, especially during the weekend."