Transfomer causes grievances

MASHISHING – Outraged residents of Mashishing say Thaba Chweu Municipality has to pay for their electrical appliances destroyed by a faulty electrical transformer in their area.

The constant tripping power has left families without televisions, fridges, stoves, music systems, kettles, decoders and many other electrical appliances.

According to a resident, Mr Jabulani Maphanga, the transformer explodes almost every week and the local municipality must pay for the damage.

“I do not have a fridge because of the transformer, we have called TCM on several occasions to come and fix it but that does not help us at all. They restore the power and do not pay for the loss,” he said.

Residents say the transformer is overloaded, dangerous and needs to be changed. According to a resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, she blames illegal connections. “The increasing number of cases in which residents illegally re-route electricity connections is making it hard for the transformer to function, ” she said.

“The municipality knows very well what the problem is and it knows the only solution is to provide electricity for those who do not have so that they will stop doing illegal connections. When they installed the transformer they knew the number of houses it can cater for, but now it cannot handle the extra connections. We have raised this issue, but it is not being addressed.

“One day this place will burn down. We cannot sleep peacefully because we fear for our safety, the loud sound of the transformer and the sparks that come out when it explodes, is terrifying,” she explained.

At the time of going to press, TCM had not responded to the newspaper’s queries.