Where did the power go?
It is no secret that Rustenburg has been experiencing power supply interruptions since the 11th January 2013. These interruptions affects a sizeable amount of residential, commercial and light industrial areas. These interruptions were caused by an explosion that occurred at the Munic electrical substation, off Zendeling Street. Severe damage was caused on the 33 000 volt switchgear. Subsequently, the substation had to be isolated from the entire 33 kv electricity network of Rustenburg Local Municipality.
Temporary measures have been taken in order to solve the problem for the time being but these measures are operating at a very high risk. This means any cable fault on the 33kv system supplying Munic and Boschdal substation will take longer than normal to repair due to the abnormal operation of the network. It is anticipated that the lasting solution to this dilemma will be found in the next six to eight (6 – 8) months due to the difficulty in finding the new switchgear needed to rebuild the damaged Municipal substation.
Areas that are affected are: East End (Oos Einde), Waterfall Mall, Safari Tuine extensions, Cashan extensions, all developments in the Waterfall East and part of Protea Park, which consume about 40% of the electricity supply in the Rustenburg area. The Executive Mayor, Cllr Mpho Khunou, would like to apologize on behalf of the entire Council, for the inconvenience caused. They are working to get the situation under control and to restore services back to normal. For any further inquiries contact the call centre on: 014 590 3668, 3559, 3724 or the Electrical Engineering Services on 014 590 3175.