Power has been restored at the 4 South African Infantry (4 SAI) Battalion base in Middelburg after personnel and residents were left without electricity for 20 days.

Electricity was restored yesterday (August 13) after the Middelburg Observer brought the issue to the Department of Defence head office in Pretoria on Tuesday (August 11).

Reactions to the crisis came swiftly as the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality Mayor Mhlonishwa Masilela expressed shock upon learning there was no electricity at the base, clarifying that the power loss was not due to a municipal service delivery failure, but rather an internal issue at the facility.

More than 40 military families and army personnel live at the base, including children.

The national scandal was brought to the Observer’s attention last week, resulting in an investigation by Observer journalist Emanuel Majola.

According to sources, the blackout began on July 24 after a main transformer at the supplying substation was damaged.

The paper understands that repairs stalled because a contractor was unable to source the necessary replacement parts, leaving residents in dire conditions.

Families living on the base reported having to bathe their children in freezing cold water and cook meals over open fires due to the lack of power. While single soldiers were still receiving cooked meals from the central kitchen using backup generators, residential quarters remained completely in the dark.

“The situation doesn’t look like it will be fixed anytime soon,” a ranked officer shared on a private WhatsApp group chat during the outage. “We must make a means to make our living situation better for ourselves. This is not ideal, but it’s our new reality.”

Although backup generators were delivered to the base last Sunday (August 9), they were not connected.

“The main transformer in our substation is damaged,” the officer confirmed, after speaking to the Observer on condition of anonymity.

“The Department of Public Works should give us answers,” he told the Observer, adding, “4 SAI did all they can, but it’s beyond our control now. It is higher up.”

Another internal update on the 4 SAI WhatsApp group posted during last weekend simply confirmed: “The latest news: They cannot get spares.”

When the paper visited the base, two journalists were confronted outside the base on Tuesday and ordered not to take photos by a group of aggressive uniformed and uniformed soldiers.

The Observer spoke to a resident of the base, who confirmed that electricity was restored yesterday at around 17:00. He also said that he is not aware of the full reasoning of how the electricity was restored, but said that everyone on the base is thankful,

Read more about this story in today’s edition of the Observer.