Three Rivers and Vanderbijlpark outages: no restoration time yet

Emfuleni Local Municipality has confirmed two separate emergency power outages in the Vaal since Monday. As of 14:12 on Tuesday it had not given a restoration time for either, and had posted no update on either outage on X (Emfuleni on X).

Three Rivers, Vereeniging

At 17:00 on Monday, the municipality said on X that it was dealing with an outage in Three Rivers Extension 1 and Three Rivers Proper. It blamed a faulty high-tension cable at Orwel Drive and said no estimated restoration time could be given (Emfuleni on X).

For some residents the wait is already much longer. DA Ward 1 councillor Dalene Venter told Vaalweekblad that part of the suburb has been without electricity since Thursday 29 October because of a cable fault.

Venter said a second problem followed scheduled maintenance at the Vereeniging DS substation on Sunday 1 November, when the load was moved from one transformer to another.

According to Venter, affected streets include Brandmuller, Athlone, Dee Drive, Orange Drive and Golf Road, as well as parts of Umgeni, Brak, Umtata and Zambesi streets. She stressed that the list is not complete.

She told the paper that technicians have narrowed the search to the stretch between Dee Drive and the substation behind Eurospar. They still have to pinpoint the fault before they can dig up and join the cable.

Venter blamed ageing infrastructure. She estimates that about 80% of the cables are in poor condition and need replacing. Emfuleni has not commented on the estimate.

Vanderbijlpark

At 21:29 on Monday, Emfuleni posted an emergency notice about an outage in “Vanderbijlpark and surrounding areas”. It said technicians had been sent out to find the fault and restore supply (Emfuleni on X).

The municipality has not said which suburbs are affected, what caused the fault or when power will return.

This is separate from a suspected cable joint failure that hit Riverspray and Riverbend on Sunday 1 November (Emfuleni on X).

Sebokeng Zone 13

Emfuleni said Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Executive Mayor Hassan Mako were due to switch on a transformer in Zone 13, Ward 32, Sebokeng, at 14:00 on Tuesday. The municipality says the switch-on is part of the provincial government’s Operation Khanyisa programme (Emfuleni on X). As of 14:12, the municipality had not posted an update on whether the switch-on went ahead.

Nation Watch SA has asked Emfuleni Local Municipality to comment. This story will be updated with its response.