Cascading power failures cripple Lydenburg

LYDENBURG – In two weeks this town has experienced more than 20 power failures. Residents say they are now fed up and are threatening to take this matter further if something drastic is not done.

On Monday areas in town only had two hours of electricity after an 18-hour power cut. This was the 25th time that a disruption occurred. Reasons for the interruptions varied from blown fuses at Rooidraai, faulty transformers, a substation that caught fire in Voortrekker Street, to monkeys causing wires to short, resulting in yet another fire at the transformer at Hoërskool Lydenburg.

A reliable source told Steelburger/ Lydenburg News that the age-old infrastructure was finally catching up with Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM). “This electricity system is more than 30 years old and has not been maintained or upgraded. With the influx of new residents, it cannot carry the extra load and instead of upgrading the system, a R350 million substation (Duma) is being built. Maintenance is non-existent and at this moment only reactive quick fixes are being implemented, instead of proactive solutions to the problem.”

The Duma substation will apparently connect to the existing Eskom grid, but whether this substation will have a positive or negative impact on the electricity system is yet to be seen.

Credit, however, has to be given to Snethemba Manqele, the director of technical services at TCLM. He is the only official who gives constant feedback on the electricity issues being experienced and continuously keeps the newspaper informed about where problems are being experienced and how they will be addressed.

Cllr Nicko Janse van Vuuren, of the DA, said the whole electricity system could have been upgraded for a fraction of the cost of Duma. “We as the residents are now suffering the consequences of a government being reactive instead of proactive. Officials are earning massive salaries and driving fancy cars and not serving the community. “This is extremely frustrating and come month end, they demand payment for the lack of service delivery. This is the reason why there is zero economic growth in this town. It has become a place that tourists avoid and investors refuse to endow.” The newspaper asked TCLM for comment on the current electricity woes being experienced.

Themba Sibiya, communications manager at TCLM said it is no secret that TCLM is battling with ageing infrastructure. “Some of the causes for the power outages are underground cable faults resulting in ring main units not being available for alternative supply during outages. Since we have to repair the damaged cables first, that actually prolongs the turnaround time to restore electricity.”

He said that cable theft remains a big challenge, particularly in town. “Eskom also contributes to several outages, as their circuit breakers were tripping. Duma substation will assist in terms of new substations and some new feeder lines into town. All five existing substations will be upgraded as part of the Duma project. The municipality will also be upgrading existing overhead lines. We are still experiencing faults from the farms and most of them are inaccessible. We are negotiating with Eskom in order to transfer the farms to them, since they are not part of your electricity redistribution list.”