Most of Bloemfontein in the dark after substation explosion

Large swathes of Bloemfontein in the Free State has been left in the dark following an explosion at a substation.

The Harvard Substation, which provides electricity from Eskom to the Mangaung Metro electricity supplier Centlec, exploded on Monday night resulting in a transmission line plunging most of the city darkness.

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Centlec is currently trying to assess the situation and and will provide further details once the cause of the explosion has been identified.

“Dear Client, please take note that we are experiencing a loss of power supply with both 132kv incomers having tripped at Harvard, on the supply to Mangaung which is affecting the entire city.

“The time estimated for restoration is currently unavailable due to the nature of the fault. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this outage,” the electricity utility said on Facebook.

According to report, hospitals across the city have been running on generators, which kicked in immediately after the city went dark.

Areas affected include:

• LHP
• Bloemanda
• Bayswater
• Fichardtpark
• Oranjesig
• Dan pienaar
• Rocklands
• Heuwelsig
• Brand wag
• Pentagon park
• Bainsvlei
• Universitas
• Estoire
• Bloemside
• Rodewal
• Bloemspruit
• Navalsig
• Kelly’s view
• Westdene
• Northridge
• Spitskop
• Bloemdustria
• Fleurdale
• Estoire
• Tempe
• Uitsig
• Hospitaalpark
• Hamilton
• Grassland
• Heidedal
• Arcatia

Load shedding suspended

South Africans received some unexpected reprieve from load shedding on Monday as members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other political parties took to the streets for a national shutdown.

According to Eskom, the rolling blackouts were temporarily halted since there was a lower than expected demand for electricity.

Stage 2 load shedding will, however, return on Tuesday, with Eskom set to implement the power cuts starting at 4pm.

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