Day 3 without electricity – residents have had enough
The municipality has still not given a reason for the prolonged power outage in the City of Coal.
Freezing weather and municipal power system failures have forced households across the city to rely on generators and gas to cook and keep warm.
The chain reaction of power outages began on August 10 when an overhead line burned at the Grobler substation, leaving several areas in the dark.
Municipal officials sourced spare parts and promised to start repair work as soon as they were available.
Residents left in dark
Daniel Swacinna, mom of a seven-month-old baby, phoned the newspaper at her wit’s end to ask when electricity would be restored.
“Coping with a baby in the dark is not a joke,” she said. “We lit candles and I hardly slept, out of fear that the candles would set the house alight. This carried on through to Tuesday evening when the lights finally came back on.”
The ward councillor for the area where Swacinna lives, Karien McDermid, said Heidehof in Ward 24 was still without electricity.
Cllr Lizelle Steyn reported that Da Vinci Street Estates and Route N4 Business Park had also been without power since Monday.
“Just at Smokey Mountain, we have already spent R50 000 on diesel for the generator to keep businesses going,” she said.
Cllr Kim Fourie said the Van Wyk Louw substation in Ext 8 was finally restored after 24 hours, but Ext 16 had been without electricity for more than 12 hours.
In Blancheville in Ward 20, the power went off on Monday and has still not been restored.
Repairs underway across suburbs
Last night, August 12, the municipality released a power supply update that brought good news for some areas while others remained in the dark.
“Power has successfully been restored to Van Wyk Substation Ext 8, Kwa-Guqa Ext 4, Del Judor Ext 1 and 2, and Sunset Boulevard. Active repair work is underway in Tasbet Park Ext 2, with an estimated restoration time of two hours, and in a portion of N4 Business Park, which is expected to be restored in approximately four hours. A team has also been dispatched to address a portion of Reyno Ridge Ext 4. However, status remains unchanged and faults are still being located for Die Heuwel Manor Estate Ext 24, Hertzog Street, Technopark, Tungsten Road, and Voortrekker up to Travelling Auctioneers. Additionally, a faulty transformer is affecting Bellinie Estate, and an outstanding fault on a transformer in Klarinet Ext 8 is currently impacting parts of Klarinet.”
The municipality’s media desk posted that Corridor Hill Flats, Eden Park, Witbank Ext 16, and Blancheville remain on the list to be attended to by municipal technicians.
The municipal spokesperson, Lebo Mofokeng, said he would give a clear breakdown this morning of what transpired since Monday.
“The answer is plain and simple,” said John Cornish, who lives in Modelpark. “The municipality does not have enough teams to attend to power outages and, secondly, just a little bit of strain earlier this week as households prepared for the cold to settle in, and the infrastructure falls apart.”
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