Emalahleni residents are still in the dark

While Eskom says it will immediately lift blackouts in Witbank, some residents were yesterday still without power.

"We haven't had power since around 5am, so we don't know whether this blackout has anything to do with our substation," a resident of Kwa-Guqa said at about 8.30am yesterday.

Times have been tough for residents of Witbank as Eskom decided to take action over the municipality's mounting debt.

The power utility has been cutting off electricity twice a day for two-hour periods until the municipality settles part of its almost R1-billion debt.

But after mounting complaints, Eskom showed mercy to residents on Wednesday night.

"Eskom feels the pain inflicted on the members of the public and the unintended consequences of the disruption of essential services, in particular access to water," the company said.

"Eskom has decided to suspend the supply interruptions with immediate effect until March 3."

But dry taps and power cuts have become the norm for the community.

Buying bottled water, filling up bucket-loads of water for baths and laundry and stocking up on candles has become a way of life.

Municipal spokesman Theo van Vuuren said many problems were due to old infrastructure, as well as more than R2-billion owed by residents and businesses.