08:45
POLOKWANE – Municipal spokesperson Matshidiso Mothapo has released an update on the explosion of a circuit breaker at the Gamma Substation. He said the substation will need to be switched off and as a result, all areas that have previously been restored will be without power supply again.
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08:18
POLOKWANE – Various areas in the city have been left without power supply after a circuit breaker ‘exploded’ at the Gamma Substation earlier this morning (March 9).
According to a statement by municipal spokesperson Matshidiso Mothapo, two municipal employees were hospitalised after the explosion of the 11KV circuit breaker.
“Ladanna, Ladine, Industria, Laboria, Le Rouxville, Eduan Park, Futura, Extension 29, Emdo Park, Tom Naudé, Noorderland, Hoërskool Pietersburg, the provincial hospital and SABC surroundings have been affected. The outage has also affected power supply to correctional services, sewage works and the pump stations,” Mothapo explained.
He added that there is no estimated completion time to the repairs. “Due to the level of damaged caused by the explosion, we are at this point uncertain on how long it will take to restore all the areas. Power supply to some of the areas have, however, already been restored,” Mothapo said.
He urged residents in the affected areas to treat all electrical wiring as live and to switch off all appliances to avoid injury and damage once supply is restored.
“Electrical challenges can be reported to the municipal Electrical Call Centre on 015 023 5490 / 015 023 5707 or WhatsApp on 083 824 9886,” Mothapo concluded.
Meanwhile, the power utility Eskom has announced that load-shedding will be moved to Stage 4 from 09:00 until 05:00 on Friday (March 11).
View your load-shedding schedules here: This is when your lights will go out
