DURBAN - AN EXPLOSION at the Mariannridge electricity substation on Tuesday night added to the woes of Durban residents as it left vast parts of the eastern and southern regions of the eThekwini Municipality in darkness.
The municipality has been dealing with electricity outages and water shortages in numerous areas in Durban because of the damage to infrastructure caused by last week’s floods.
Caelee Laing, a PR councillor in Hillcrest, said that most of the area was affected by the power outage caused by the explosion.
“The fire at the Mariannridge substation caused the power to go out for at least six or seven hours. Some of the areas that were affected included Waterfall, Assagay and Botha’s Hill. There are so many challenges after the KwaZulu-Natal floods, and this power outage created further challenges.”
Laing said yesterday that power had been restored to some areas.
“Some repairs were done last night and some areas have power. However, certain areas such as Gillitts still do not have power.”
Fatima Ismail, a ward councillor in Shallcross, said that electricity outages were also experienced in the area.
“We are dealing with a crisis in eThekwini. The floods caused massive damage. There were areas in Shallcross that didn’t have power for eight or nine days.
“Some of the power was restored and then went out again last night after the fire at the substation. There are so many challenges we are addressing, and now we have to deal with another power outage.”
Ismail said that councillors had been stretched to their limits trying to provide food and assistance to residents affected by the floods.
“I am out almost until 3am every day just trying to assist people who have been affected by the floods. It is difficult as some residents don’t understand that I am trying to get feedback about when the power or water will be restored, while I am actually out assisting affected residents.
“The municipality also makes things difficult as most of the time I am unable to get responses from it about the water or electricity situation, which angers residents because there’s no feedback. The water issue is also a major problem as there are large parts of Shallcross that still don’t have water, and I have only been assigned one tanker to distribute to the community.”
The eThekwini Municipality confirmed that an explosion had taken place at the Mariannridge substation. It said it would be investigating the incident and was working to restore electricity.
The municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said that teams had been working tirelessly throughout the week to ensure power supply in areas affected by the flooding, as well as attending to a backlog of repairs.
“With several substations and electrical equipment damaged or submerged in water, this has caused further delays in the restoration of power throughout the week.”
Mayisela said that in the south-western region, the inaccessibility of certain areas remained a challenge.
“A significant amount of electrical equipment was submerged during the floods. Some suffered irreparable damage while others had to dry before it could be used. The region also suffered a double cable fault, and some of its substations were damaged. Despite these challenges, power has been restored in most areas in the region. Areas still affected by recurring outages include Merebank and Jacobs.”
Mayisela said that in the southern region, teams had found it challenging to access areas such as Mdumezulu because roads leading to the area had been washed away.
“Community protests in uMlazi U-section and Folweni further delayed power restoration in both areas, although parts of U-section have been restored.”
Mayisela said that the central region currently had the highest number of faults, which had also been prolonged by damage to infrastructure.
“The Quarry Road substation was washed away, and Pineside is inaccessible. The teams are working in the area. The most affected areas include Wiggins, Glenmore and Umbilo.
“Areas like Dassenhoek, Caversham and Fernin Road are currently inaccessible, but teams are working on restoration of power despite the challenge of inaccessibility. Other affected areas include Tshelimnyama, Gillitts, Molweni and Waterfall.”
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