SECUNDA – As if load shedding is not enough, residents of Secunda and Trichardt had to spend more time in darkness after cables were stolen during the festive season.
While Secunda had load shedding on Saturday, 5 January, thieves saw the opportunity to dig out the cables in the open field near the train tracks between Trichardt and Secunda.
Ms Mariaan Chamberlain, DA councillor, said about six months ago thieves also stole cables there on the side of Trichardt.
Ms Chamberlain kept residents informed of the electrical team’s progress on fixing the problem and said the police and the Trichardt Community Policing Forum (CPF) were there to patrol in the area.
Ms Ciska Jordaan, DA Councillor, also kept residents informed about the electricity situation in Trichardt.
Residents in Unie Street in Secunda were also left in the dark on Christmas Day when a transformer burnt.
It was, however, repaired and the electricity supply restored.
Residents in large parts of Secunda were left in the dark once again early in the new year when a temporary transformer in McKay Street burnt on Thursday, 2 January.
The municipal team fixed the cables and by night time on 2 January, some residents had electricity, but several areas were still without electricity on Friday, 3 January.
At one stage over the weekend, Ms Chamberlain send a WhatsApp message to residents and requested them to stop phoning or visiting the sites were the electrical team was working as it was hampering the progress.
By Monday morning Secunda and Trichardt had electricity again and all the problem areas were repaired.
