A devastating fire ripped through the primary switch house along Newcastle Road, plunging the town of Ladysmith into complete darkness on Sunday evening, 7 May. Businesses closed their doors and residents were left without electricity for a period of four days.
The Alfred Duma Municipal Fire Department worked tirelessly over the night to extinguish the flames at the substation which supplies the Acaciavale, Aloe Park, Rose Park, Leonardsville, Marula, Steadville and Tsakane areas; and the Sumitomo, Lasher and Transvaal Press Nuts and Bolts factory as well as many other businesses.
On Monday, 8 May, Electrical Engineering Services managed to restore power to a handful of businesses in Lyell Street, parts of central town, the Provincial Hospital, Essen Medical Center, Ladysmith Prison, Cannon Road, Lower Hospital Park and Klipbank Road.
On Tuesday, 9 May, Alfred Duma Municipal Mayor, Councillor Zama Sibisi, along with councillors and other officials as well as a few business owners gathered at the primary switch house to seek solutions to restore the town’s power.
Mayor Sibisi told The Ladysmith Herald that the municipality has brought in a group of forensic investigators as he and his department believe that the fire was an act of sabotage.
“The damages caused by the fire will cost millions of rands to fix and with the primary switch house destroyed, we will have to rebuild,” said Mayor Sibisi, adding that it was difficult to say when power would be fully restored to all areas.
During the power outage, schools were forced to close due to water not being pumped to the community as well as the lack of electricity. Businesses in and around Ladysmith had to cough up as much as R10 000 a day to fuel generators and other businesses had to send their workers home.
Technicians worked around the clock to resolve the issue, however, Egerton, Golf Course, Hospital Park, Van Riebeeck Park, Observation Hill, Umkhamba Gardens, Limit Hill, Model Kloof, Danskraal Industrial area, Bloukrans Road, parts of Central Town and Illing Road were still affected.
By Thursday, Alfred Duma Municipality had managed to restore power to most parts of Ladysmith, with a few places still being worked on.
Meanwhile, The Ladysmith Herald received multiple calls from concerned residents who alleged that local hardware businesses were pushing up the prices of generators during the power outage. “I phoned in the morning to find out the price of a generator, which was R7 000. Later that same day, the price was raised by R3 000,” said a caller.
Last week, it was reported that Dundee was affected by a massive power outage after an Eskom cable running from Forestdale to Craigside was stolen.
The Al-Imdaad Foundation and other NGOs, as well as individuals, did their best to deliver water to affected residents. At the time of going to press, power had been restored to most parts of Ladysmith.
