The full catastrophe hits Standerton
Adding insult to injury was the fact that maintenance was done at the substations for two days.
Lekwa Municipality is ill-equipped to cope with service delivery issues, let alone handle Eskom’s Stage 6 load-shedding which was introduced on Wednesday, December 7.
The town reeled under the shock, residents waited at their homes in silence, the sounds of a generator or two echoing.
Businesses without the means to afford a generator running for anything up to eight to 10 hours, were in dire straits.
Those with generators took the prices of diesel and petrol into account. A wild allegation surfaced that the power utility switched off power for load reduction. This was in addition to the scheduled Stage 6 load-shedding.
The communications department of the municipality indicated later on that information from the Eskom call centre was misinterpreted. An apology was duly given.
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The notified maximum demand as implemented by Lekwa was mentioned in one message on a WhatsApp-group.
Adding insult to injury was the fact that maintenance was done at the substations for two days. Water interruptions were par for the course.
Wilma Venter, Freedom Front Plus councillor in Ward 10, texted on a WhatsApp-group that the Standerton Water Treatment Plant takes about four hours to begin working.
Pumps have to start, the sedimentation tank needs to fill and eventually the Kieser Street reservoir can begin pumping water to the community.
Low-lying areas are hit with a six to eight hours wait and high-lying areas with 10 to 12 hours. Cellphones need to be charged, geysers have to fill up, the list is endless.
Swiping a card to buy goods was problematic at one store the past week.
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Text messages took forever to reach their destinations and residents on oxygen machines had to make plans.
Alet van Vuuren who is dependent on oxygen, did not sleep for two nights as she waited for the power to return to charge her machines.
The newspaper did an article this year about her plight. This courageous woman’s faith is keeping her going.
The Standerton Advertiser visited the Cosmos Retirement Village on Thursday, December 8 and asked the manager, Sanpat Coetzee, what the impact on the institution is.
Coetzee’s take on the situation is elsewhere in the newspaper, the old age home is coping quite well.
Her positive attitude to the challenges is reflected in the following words:
“We are all in the same boat and will we be able, through our attitude, to reach the shore. The bigger the threat, the closer the community should work together.”
