Komani and its surrounding townships and villages were plunged into figurative darkness after a substation caught alight on Friday, May 6 just before 07:00.
Traffic and businesses came to a standstill while the townships were up in smoke as communities lit fires in protest against the unstable electricity supply by Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM).
Despite the substation fire, the local authority has had challenges providing electricity, with Tarkastad being out of electricity for at least 14 days.
Questions were sent to the municipality with spokesperson Lonwabo Kowan saying:
According to a statement published on the Municipality’s Facebook page, Komani “experienced an unexpected outage which happened as a result of a fire incident which took place at the Western substation,” the statement read.
“The 20 MVA substation transformer was burnt down and the cause of the fire is not yet known. An investigation will be undertaken.”
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The local authority said the municipality was already in negotiations with various organisations with a view to source a transformer on either a temporary or permanent basis.
“A municipal crisis committee has been established and is working around the clock to devise means of restoring electricity in the quickest possible time for all affected areas,” the statement said.
The western substation feeds a number of areas which include a portion of CBD, Madeira Park, Westbourne, Kings Park, Amberdale, New Rest, part of Bhede, Army Base and Factory road.
The Municipality said that power supply has been restored in areas which are fed from other substations.
Residents in Komani have struggled with interrupted power supply since middle April and the municipality has been working on resolving electricity issues since then.
On Wednesday, May 4 the Municipality posted the following update on their Facebook page: