Welverdiend residents enter fourth week without electricity amid growing crisis
Residents are desperate, with volunteers calling for urgent food aid and medical support.
Residents of Welverdiend and surrounding areas are facing a deepening crisis as the electricity outage enters its fourth consecutive week. Hopes for a resolution were dashed after the transformer delivered to the Frikkie van der Merwe substation on 14 July failed to function and was returned to Bronkhorstspruit for repairs. Reports indicate it was damaged during transportation.
On July 18, Merafong mayor Nozuko Best gave her first public response regarding the situation. She stated that the municipality is currently pursuing several interim solutions. These include constructing temporary power supply lines from nearby substations and collaborating with Eskom to identify alternative supply points that do not require a transformer. The municipality is also investigating the availability of a mobile transformer to ease the crisis.
Eskom is expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine the most feasible temporary solution to restore power.
This marks the first time since the blackout began that external support has been brought in, nearly four weeks after the initial failure.
In the meantime, conditions in Welverdiend have deteriorated significantly. “People are collecting firewood to cook the little food they have left because they’ve run out of gas and petrol,” said one local resident.
Volunteer Vallerie Kilian and a small team of concerned residents are doing their best to support those affected. However, the need continues to grow. “Seven people — most of them elderly — have died because their oxygen machines and other essential medical equipment couldn’t operate,” Kilian reported on July 18.
The team has been distributing food to 13 households, but their resources are dwindling. “More and more families come to ask for help every day,” she said. “With schools reopening, children need food in the mornings. Most people here have no fridges or power backup, so we urgently need non-perishable food items.”
The group is calling on local businesses, organisations, and the wider public to donate urgently needed goods such as instant porridge, canned food, pasta, rice, and long-life milk. Anyone willing to assist can contact Vallerie Kilian at 072 896 1532.
As of publication time, the municipality had not provided any specific timeline for when the power supply would be restored.
