Attempted cable theft put an electrical substation near Grahamstown's Sunnyside suburb, near Fort England Hospital, out of action for nearly 24 hours on Wednesday 26 March.
Attempted cable theft put an electrical substation near Grahamstown's Sunnyside suburb, near Fort England Hospital, out of action for nearly 24 hours on Wednesday 26 March.
Residents in the area reported hearing an explosion around 10pm on Wednesday 26 March from an electrical substation on Whitesides Road.
"There was a massive bang, followed by a power cut," resident Simon Pamphilon told Grocott's Mail.
“There was a cable failure in that area [Fort England] which caused the explosion," Makana Municipality's communications officer, Yoliswa Ramokolo, told Grocott's Mail on Thursday.
"It is perceived as an attempted cable theft because the cable was tampered with. It has [since]been replaced with [a]new one; [the]power was back on at about 5.30pm.”
Last year engineers contracted by Makana Municipality found evidence of neglect and lack of maintenance at the city's electrical substations.
