Town without power for more than 42 hours

The majority of Lydenburg, which falls under the Rooidraai Substation power grid, was without electricity for more than 42 hours this past weekend. The power failure started on Saturday October 23 at 03:00. A part of the Rooidraai power grid supply was connected again by 14:30 on Saturday. The rest of the town only had electricity again by Sunday October 24 at 20:53. Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) established there was a faulty joint in Viljoen Street at 09:30 on Saturday. But it had no joints available. Spiros Couvaras, a DA councillor, drove to Sabie late on Saturday afternoon to personally collect ferrules for the faulty joint.  

“After I arrived in Sabie, I was informed they couldn’t help me and I would have to wait for the contractor to come to Lydenburg on Sunday. On Sunday morning, I arrived at the site in Viljoen Street just after 08:00. But there was no contractor insight. The supply chain manager of TCLM had to go and collect the contractor from Mbombela because he did not have any transport. They also collected the ferrules, a five metre cable, and two joints in Sabie,” said Couvaras. TCLM started to install the ferrules at about 14:00 on Sunday afternoon.

“Lydenburg’s electricity problems continue with no end in sight. We as ratepayers are on the brink of the November 1 elections and find this unacceptable,” said Couvaras.

Some of the Facebook comments by the paper’s readers:

• “And just as soon as the ferrules will arrive, it’s load-shedding. How on earth is there still load-shedding in Lydenburg if half of the town did not have power for two days?” – Ronel Lindeque.
• “I do have a stupid question. How is it possible that a town does not have ferrules or joints for its cables in stock?” – Nico Cross Jr.
• “Awful! Disgustingly unprofessional! Morally incorrect! Sounds like you people are living in hell! Everyone knows that things deteriorate, so why not be ready and have spares waiting for when something conks out?” – Deborah Pyper

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• Themba Sibiya, communications manager of TCLM, was asked for comment and whether TCLM would like to explain to its residents why they were without power for nearly 45 hours over the weekend. Steelburger/Lydenburg News did not receive a response to any of the emails. The office of the executive mayor of TCLM, Friddah Nkadimeng, and the municipal manager, Sipiwe Matsi, were also included in the emails. In addition to the electricity woes, Eskom also announced load-shedding.