BURGERSFORT – On Tuesday March 1 a heavy thunderstorm caused havoc when lighting struck electrical equipment at an Eskom substation, leaving residential areas without water and electricity for four consecutive days.
The power outage started at 16:00 and shortly afterwards there was no water, too. Residents thought it was normal, as the electricity was always turned off for a few hours after heavy storms, but by Wednesday morning there was still no water or electricity.
Residential areas that were affected were Elephantshill 1 and 2, Lions Rock, Leopards Bush and parts of Mooifontein.
A source said that mining companies sent them emails about the situation and that the water and electricity would only be turned on by March 4 due to an isolator that was damaged.
On Wednesday locals and businesses supplied these residential areas with water from their boreholes. A water tanker was also supplied and parked in Lions Rock to assist with sanitary difficulties like bathing and flushing of toilets.
At 19:00 on Thursday a source said that Eskom replaced the damaged electrical equipment, but the electricity was still tripping because of a suspected faulty protection device.
“Some of my meat for the month was spoiled. I had to buy a generator as well as fresh meat. All of this is unnecessary expenses,” said Mr Henk van Biljon.
Ms Mariska Jonker, a hairdresser, said she was unable to continue with her business because of the outages. She was unable to colour or cut clients’ hair. She added that she lost three days’ worth of income.
“Bottled water, paraffin and candles were sold out in some supermarkets. We had to cook our food on a gas stove. I really felt sorry for people with small babies, I could only imagine how they were struggling with the feeding and grooming of the little one,” said Mr Louis van der Merwe.
On Friday March 4 both problems were solved, but residents were still upset.
Jonker added that it was unacceptable and that Eskom and the Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM) should implement plans to ensure that something like this did not happen again.
An employee of Lepelle Northern Water said the electricity outage caused the water supply to be shut down.
“Without electricity our plant cannot function. The water pumps use electricity for the purification of the water and without electricity the plant is at a standstill. We were aware of the problems Eskom had and as soon as they had restored the power, the plant was functioning normal. We also informed GTM about the water shortage that would occur. They had to inform the local residences.”
Mr Thabiso Mokoena, GTM spokesman said they were informed that lightning had damaged the Eskom substation which led to the electricity and the water being cut. Mokoena also confirmed that the municipality did send out notices about the issues and that it was announced over the local radio station, Tubatse FM.
“Eskom was aware of a power outage in the Burgersfort area which started on March 1. The outage occurred when electrical equipment in the substation were extensively damaged during a thunderstorm. The technicians were on site and worked around the clock to restore the power. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. We would also like to warn community members to treat all electricity installations and infrastructure as live at all times,” concluded Ms Pearl Phaladi, from Eskom Limpopo Operating Unit.
