Media Room

Extensive large area power outages have become increasingly common in Vanderbijlpark and its surrounding areas, as numerous electrical network faults wreak havoc on the aging electrical network. These outages affect a large number of people and local businesses with millions of rands worth of cost lost in the economy each time it happens.

Since Wednesday 8th December 2021, the municipality started experiencing nuisance power outages in Vanderbijlpark, leaving many without electricity for hours. This was due to a 11kV fault that tripped both Town and NW 7 Substations. The following day on Thursday the 9th December 2021, CE, SE and SW Areas customers were left in the dark due to a faulty power transformer at Vesco Substation.

Vanderbijlpark experienced seven (7) further intermittent power outages related to network faults between Thursday 13th December 2021 and Tuesday 11th January 2022.  

For many, power outages are a nuisance and are seen as a hindrance to local economy, the municipality is equally aware that they have the potential to become lethal to vulnerable people who rely on power to survive. Health care and other critical facilities are at risk every time there is a power cut.

Electricity department teams continue to work tirelessly to investigate the root cause these relentless outages, and attend to the high volume of service requests in all areas supplied by the municipality. It must be noted that large area outages caused by ageing network faults take longer repair.

Some of the larger area outages include Vanderbijlpark, Bophelong, Bophelong Extensions, Bonanne, Stephanopark and surrounding agricultural holdings. Unfortunately, more nuisance trips can be expected in these areas due to obsolete protection panels that delay fault finding in most of our substations. 

The municipality is currently in no position to indicate how long the large area outages will last however; the electricity department is working as hard as it can to find a lasting solution to this problem. 

While efforts to normalize electricity supply are underway, the municipality encourages consumers to continue paying for services and for those who cannot afford to register for indigency. The municipality is not collecting enough revenue currently and this has led to prolonged turnaround times for service requests. 

In a bid to intensify revenue collection, residential and business customers in arrears are advised to apply for the incentive scheme for discounts of up to 50%.   

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all consumers for their patience and understanding. Consumers are encouraged to register any of their queries with the Electricity Control Room via WhatsApp on 065 871 7483.

ENDS

Issued by: 

Makhosonke Sangweni  

Acting Manager: Communications, Marketing, Branding and Event Management 

Tel: 016 950 6574

Mobile: 071 350 1475

Email: makho@emfuleni.gov.za