KEY POINTS:
Hundreds of people were stranded in cable cars near the top of Table Mountain after power cuts hit the landmark above Cape Town, illustrating the chronic energy shortages affecting Africa's strongest economy.
National utility company Eskom does not have enough capacity to meet the country's electricity needs so it is turning off the switch for up to two hours to conserve power.
Residents have been left to cope with failing traffic lights, delayed trains, hospital operation cancellations and schools closing early.
The Table Mountain electricity supply failed yesterday just as two cable cars were about to dock at the top and bottom of the mountain.
The 40 passengers in the lower car were forced to abseil 4m to safety through the floor. The 50 in the upper car were evacuated through the roof.
Engineers worked to get the cars working again while 900 people, trapped at the summit of the 1086m mountain, waited anxiously.
A spokeswoman for the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company said it had not been warned about the outage. President Thabo Mbeki is due to meet Eskom executives this week to discuss the situation.
- INDEPENDENT
