/ 19 February 2006

Power restored to most of Western Cape

Power had been restored to large parts of the Western Cape by Sunday afternoon, Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said.

Eskom was working with the City of Cape Town to restore power in other areas. He could not say which areas in the Western Cape were still without power.

”In the Western Cape, power has been restored to some areas. We are still reconnecting the power supply to other areas,” said Zulu.

The entire Western Cape was without power early on Sunday following faults on transmission lines because of misty conditions and residual pollution from recent fires.

Power had also been restored in Pretoria, but there the problem appeared not to have been from Eskom’s side, said Zulu.

”Indications from the control centre are that the fault emanated from the City of Tshwane. The problem has been addressed and resolved.”

In Johannesburg, a power failure affected included Hurst Hill, Victory Park and Rosebank.

However, Zulu said Eskom had not picked up a problem in Johannesburg and was still trying to establish the cause of the cut.

Eskom was also not aware of a problem in Ekurhuleni, where traffic lights were out in Witfield and Morganridge, Boksburg, and in Meadowdale, Meadowbrook, Dawnview and Primrose, Germiston.

According to Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Kobeli Mokheseng, there was a problem with a circuit breaker. Technicians were working on the fault. — Sapa