THE angry residents of Tshiame, Harrismith in the Free State have threatened to close the N3 and N5 highways.
This is if the government continues to treat their area like an isolated island.
The residents are complaining of what they see as highly orchestrated power cuts every Christmas season since 2014.
This after the Tshiame Substation mysteriously failed for two weeks ago, leaving residents stranded and in the dark. Residents are now forced to take expensive measures to cook and keep the lights on, especially at night.
In 2021, the substation was mysteriously struck by lightning, and it took the Maluti-a-Phofung community three months to replace the damaged transformer. A similar incident happened again in 2022.
The residents said this has had a negative impact on them. They had thrown away rotten food from their fridges. They said matric pupils finished their final exams in the dark classrooms.
Resident Duduzile Mazibuko told Daily Sun that Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality is reluctant to fix the problem while people are suffering.
"If the municipality and Eskom do not fix this problem in the next three days, we would have no choice but to take our frustration to the streets. We will bring the South African economy between Joburg and Durban to a standstill by blocking the N3 and N5 with stones and burning tyres. We can't afford to be treated like an isolated island in our own country," she said.
Gotvol residents were seen picketing outside the sub-station on Thursday, 30 November.
Maluti-a-Phofung municipal spokesman Thabo Kessah has apologised to the entire Harrismith community for the unexpected explosion at Tshiame Substation.
"We agree that this is not the first-time residents have been affected by darkness due to a power outage at the same substation. But we have engaged a contractor to fix the problem. As soon as he is done, the lights will be back on," he said.
