KAROO NEWS - The electricity supply to Colesberg was affected by a fault on the line feeding Noupoort and Middelburg, both of which have been without supply since last night.
Colesberg was without electricity since Sunday morning until Monday morning at 06:00.
The transformer that usually feeds Noupoort and Middelburg has been damaged and is awaiting a replacement, which is no small undertaking.
To ensure supply to these towns, they have been linked to the line that feeds Colesberg. However, the 60km long feeder between Colesberg and Noupoort was never designed nor intended to supply two towns with electricity.
Unfortunately, this means that the line carries much more load than it was designed for, which in turn exploits weaknesses on the line and then burns them completely off. This results in the line breaker to trip which leaves Colesberg in darkness until the damaged line can be disconnected and the breaker turned on.
Unfortunately, after a repair has been made, Colesberg again has to be turned of in order to safely try and reconnect Noupoort and Middelburg, which had been the case today. The line has, however, failed numerous times times and there is still no supply to these towns.
It is uncertain for how long these two towns will be without electricity.
A spokesperson from the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality (Middelburg) told the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser the problem lies with Eskom and not with them.
The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser tried several times to contact Eskom in the Eastern Cape, but has been unsuccessful.
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