Welkom plunged into darkness as storm topples Eskom towers

Eskom has once again been brought to its knees by its age-old nemesis – Mother Nature. 

Residents in several areas of Welkom, Free State, will have woken up on Monday 26 October without electricity, after storms in the nearby goldfields led to the collapse two critical electrical towers. Eskom have therefore confirmed that the city is likely to go without power for an extended period of time. 

Eskom towers damaged in storm  

In a statement released on Monday, Eskom said that a “substantial portion” of Welkom has now had its supply severed. 

“Storms in the Gold Fields have led to the collapse of two 132 kV towers on the Everest-Welkom Bulk feeder. This has resulted in a loss of supply to a substantial portion of Welkom since 20:00 on Sunday 25 October 2020,” they said. 

“Due to the extent of the damage, it is expected that the outage will last for an extended period. An updated media statement will be released later today once an estimated restoration time has established,” they said. 

Eskom apologised for the inconvenience that has been caused and asked that consumers be patient while they embark on a process of restoration. 

“Consumers are reminded to treat all electrical installations as live and dangerous as electricity can be switched on without notice,” they added. 

Battle with the elements continues

Eskom’s infrastructure woes have persistently restricted their ability to effectively supply the country with power for years, and it seems that when they aren’t hindered by both planned and unplanned maintenance that necessitates the implementation of load shedding, they are at the mercy of the elements. 

The power supplier was forced to cut power to several parts of the Eastern Cape due to heavy snow in July, and storms in other parts of the country have periodically suspended operations. 

They also face a plethora of challenges resulting in illegal connection tampering and cable theft, not to mention a recent fire that broke out at a transformer in Delmas, Mpumalanga. 

Oh, and operations the country’s only Nuclear power plant – Koeberg – was brought to a grinding halt earlier in 2020 because of a grim situation in which jellyfish clogged the water filter.