LISTEN | Eskom restores Parys power but warns of impending blackouts

Ngwathe local municipality owes over a billion to Eskom

05 July 2022 - 10:16
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The sign welcoming tourists to Parys. File image
The sign welcoming tourists to Parys. File image
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

Power to the Ngwathe local municipality in the Free State has been restored but Eskom has warned there is still a risk of overloading.

On Friday overloading by the municipality tripped and damaged the Eskom network, leaving Parys and Vredefort without electricity and knock-on water outages while the municipality worked to come up with the cash to honour its promise to pay for the repairs.

Ngwathe, which has an Eskom debt of R1.54bn, paid the R1.1m for the repairs on Monday.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Eskom said another power outage is needed to repair transformer bushings damaged by the overloading.

The embattled power utility said it had been warning the municipality about the danger of overloading since 2018 but the “municipality has not taken the required action to mitigate this risk”.

The power came back on at around 8.30pm on Monday — four days later — after work required to repair parts of Eskom’s network was completed.

Eskom has urged the affected communities to protect the power system from overloading and stressed that Monday's repairs only addressed the restoration of supply.

“Another outage will however be required to repair transformer bushings that were also damaged by the overloading. Details of this outage will be shared with the municipality.”

Sketching the background to the problems at the municipality, Eskom said it had in August 2021 and in April 2022 notified Ngwathe that the municipality would be liable for any damage to the Eskom network that is “a result of their negligence”.

“The municipality agreed to this condition and on Friday Eskom issued a quotation to the municipality for the required repairs resulting from overloading. The municipality only paid the R1.1m that was allocated to the repairs.

“Though power has been restored, the risk of overloading and consequent similar incidents remains.

“Ngwathe local municipality is once again urged to apply for a supply upgrade. In addition, the municipality is required to enter an agreement for the payment of their R1.54bn overdue debt and to keep to this agreement.”

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