Residents spent almost three days without electricity. 

ALSO READ: Free State municipality pays Eskom R1,1m in damages

Eskom spokesperson, Stefanie Jansen van Rensburg, says power was restored on Monday night at around 8pm. This follows damages to Eskom’s network infrastructure caused by the Ngwathe Municipality overloading the network.

ALSO READ: Free State municipality without power after warnings

The municipality had to pay R1.1 million in damages, which then enabled the power uitlity to fix and restore power to residents of the aforementioned towns who spent the weekend without electricity. Jansen van Rensburg says although power has been restored, the risk of overloading and consequent similar incidents, remains. The municipality is yet to comment on OFM News' enquiry.

On Friday, overloading by the municipality tripped and damaged the Eskom network.

Since 2018, Eskom has warned the Ngwathe Municipality that their continued exceedance of their Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) - the contracted amount of electricity supplied by Eskom to the municipality – will eventually result in damage to the Eskom network and that the municipality needs to apply for an upgrade in their NMD. In August 2021 and in April 2022, Eskom informed the municipality that any damage to the Eskom network that is caused by the municipality’s negligence will be at the municipality’s cost. The municipality agreed to this condition and, although they were well informed and aware of the risks, they did not take the necessary precautions or made sufficient efforts to upgrade their NMD,” Jansen van Rensburg says.

Ngwathe municipality has now again been urged to apply for a supply upgrade.

ALSO READ: Free State municipalities' debt to Eskom grows

OFM News