Blackout in Eastern Free State After Substation Vandalised

Oil was stolen from the Greenland substation in the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality, leaving businesses and homes without electricity.

Villages and an industrial zone have been without power for more than a week outside Harrismith in the Free State, after thousands of litres of oil were apparently stolen from a substation.

The Greenland substation was vandalised and about 15,000 litres of oil were drained, according to Thabo Kessah, communications manager for the Maluti-a-Phofung municipality.

Kessah said replacement parts were on the way from the Eastern Cape and oil had been procured from Durban, but he could not say when the substation would be operational again.

Tshiame is in the Maluti-a-Phofung Special Economic Zone, an area set up to attract investors by offering favourable business conditions and preferential tax rates.

Tshiame resident Mohlophehi Moloi said there were frequent electricity blackouts. “We are experiencing this every year and we know we might stay in the dark for a month or two or even more. It doesn’t make sense that someone will just walk into the substation and drain oil while the security guards are there. Someone is benefiting from this and I tell you what, not even once has a case been opened when this happened,” he said.

When GroundUp visited, security guards were on duty.

Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Mmako Mophiring said no case had been registered on the vandalism and theft.

“That is the problem that we are faced with. The municipality doesn’t open cases on infrastructure crime and as a result we don’t have a way to help them,” he said.

Almarie Jonker, the owner of Ebenhaezer Knitting Factory, said she had to spend thousands of rands on diesel for a generator and was far behind on production.

The factory makes school uniforms. Jonker says they are 35,000 school jerseys behind on an order.

“Believe you me, the past weeks have been a nightmare. I had to use a generator and it broke down because it was working non-stop.”

Jonker says the factory operates round the clock and employs 280 people. She says she had to put them off work for two days.

“You can imagine how those families were affected by that break but I had nothing to do because we did not have power or a generator. We are still in the dark as to what will happen next because we haven’t heard anything from the municipality. We are hoping for the best, but it is clear that another week will pass by,” she said.

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