FREE STATE – The ongoing, and prolonged, electrical outages in Matjhabeng Local Municipality are crippling the local economy and leaving residents with fridges and freezers full of rotting food. Many businesses have been forced to close their doors due to failed electrical supply.

Some areas like Odendaalsrus and large portions of Bedelia in Welkom, have suffered outages for more than two weeks since the beginning of April. Added to this Welkom has been virtually waterless since Thursday (7 May) last week.

The outages affected multiple towns including Hennenman, Odendaalsrus, and portions of Welkom. Electricity was briefly restored on Monday to parts of Bedelia before being switched off again.

DA councillors Estelle Dansey and Hansie du Plessis said electricians refused to work overtime to restore power despite it being approved. On Monday morning, workers returned to work and fixed faults within minutes.

Dansey says that this week (11 May) the electricians have since been cleared for overtime, but the electricity struggle continues though. “The infrastructure is crumbling and there are no funds to replace infrastructure. cables are blown, rotting in water and substations are vandalized beyond the point of return. the situation has been ongoing for about three weeks now.”

Ward 3 councillor Maxie Badenhorst said residents dependent on oxygen had to be hospitalised, babies requiring tube feeding were placed at risk, and the elderly were left vulnerable without functioning alarm systems. Families were unable to cook, heat their homes; food spoiled, and water supply was affected as pumps could not operate without electricity.

Two residents in Odendaalsrus were hospitalised, which Dansey attributed to the lack of electricity.

The Thusanong Hospital was among the facilities affected, with reports indicating the hospital had no power and no functional generators. Businesses in affected areas reportedly closed during the outages.

Du Plessis submitted a petition to parliament, requesting urgent intervention. Dr Igor Scheurkogel escalated the matter to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) and the National Council of Provinces, requesting an immediate investigation.

Dansey wrote to Matjhabeng’s Local Labour Forum committee, requesting that the municipality and the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) meet urgently.

She stated that essential services should not be used as leverage in labour disputes.

Jessica Nel, DA councillor said residents in Odendaalsrus had lost appliances and food due to outages.

A senior resident of Allanridge’s Commando Street was rushed to hospital after being without oxygen for five days. He remains in hospital as power here has not been restored for three weeks.

Tshediso Tlali, spokesperson for the Matjhabeng Municipality, said the recent surge in power outages is primarily due to a combination of normal infrastructure breakdowns, inclement weather conditions, and ongoing theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

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“Our technical teams are on the ground and actively attending to all reported outages, working to restore power supply as efficiently as possible,” Tlali said.

“The municipality has also increased security visibility in identified hotspot areas to safeguard critical infrastructure and mitigate further incidents of vandalism and theft.”

■ On Wednesday 6 May, notices were sent out that a pump at De Erf Vaal Central Water was malfunctioning due to the heavy rains. The notice stated that it was being attended to, and no time frame could be given for when the water would be restored to the majority of towns in Matjhabeng. Water to large portions of Welkom were still not restored by Tuesday 12 May.

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