Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thoko Riet said the municipality project team was working at the King Senare shacks when a high voltage spark was caused.
A SPARK surge caused a fire at the Galeshewe substation that caused a veld fire on Saturday.
Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thoko Riet said the municipality project team was working at the King Senare shacks when a high voltage spark was caused.
“The team was preparing a tie-in of the new line to the existing network. Upon completion of their preparation works, they made arrangements to switch off the existing line in Nobengula Street, that supplies power to the network in Soul City. ”
She added that while the second phase was being switched off, a high voltage spark caused a fire and burnt one of the poles that in turn resulted in a fire in the veld in Nobengula Street.
“The spark surge also travelled to the source of the line at Galeshewe substation. This surge caused a fire at the source at Galeshewe substation and the line burnt off the pole, resulting in a veld fire.”
Riet explained that parts of Galeshewe were without electricity due to the protection that was activated at the HA Marris substation on the 66 kilovolt (kV) network. The 11kV/66kV protection scheme at Galeshewe substation is currently inoperable due to vandalism and cable theft.“
She indicated that the electrical department was aware of the problem and had made arrangements to conduct repairs to the damaged line.
“The power was restored to most parts of Galeshewe on Saturday at about 6.15pm. Electricians are busy assessing the damage Club 2000, Donkerhoek and surrounding areas where the power will remain off until electricians discover the extent of the damage.”
A number of areas in the city were also plunged into darkness due to a distribution cable fault in Auction and Diebel street on Saturday while the electrical metre kiosk in Floors was burnt after it was vandalised.
Riet stated that there was a 11KV trip fault in Ashburnham were areas including the casino, Shell garage on the N12, Kamfersdam and surrounding industrial areas were without power.
The water supply at the Newton reservoir was shut on Saturday following a huge burst pipe in Kekewich drive in Monument Heights to allow for repairs.
She added that the waterworks team completed repairs and started opening the valves at a 6.36pm.
