Johanesburg central business district (CBD) residents and businesses are relieved after City Power restored electricity on Tuesday.
This after water and electricity were interrupted following an underground gas explosion on Lilian Ngoyi Street, formerly known as Bree Street, on Wednesday last week.
The explosion killed one person and left more than 40 others hospitalised. Private vehicles and minibus taxis were also damaged in the explosion.
City manager Floyd Brink said Joburg Water is also expected to restore water supply in the vicinity, after the emergency management services (EMS) declared the area safe.
“As things stand, all seems to be in order. We are happy with the progress and the teams assigned to make sure that this area is safe,” said Brink.
“Late last night [Monday], the EMS team declared the area safe.
“The place is now becoming more like a construction site, as the barriers and the fence are being put around to make sure that we restore all our services.”
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the utility restored power after it finished an assessment on the damage to the electricity infrastructure.
“City Power has restored 95% of the affected areas and only the De Villiers distributer remains off because of a suspected fault,” said Mangena.
“The whole street of the epicentre of the explosion is now on, and traffic lights are working.”
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