Emergency measures are still in place at Air Force Base (AFB) Makhado, where a major power failure has left almost the entire residential area without a continuous electricity supply.

More than 1000 Braambos residents at AFB Makhado were assisted by means of a charity project and other measures to provide them with basic foodstuff and rations, after a massive power failure left 234 houses at the base without electricity for more than a week. The operational area was initially also affected by a complete power failure, which lasted more than a day.

This crisis was caused when a high-voltage supply cable that feeds the Eskom supply to the Braambos residential area exploded in two places on Wednesday, 10 October. During these events, facilities inside the operational area and in the Braambos domestic area experienced a very powerful series of shudders in most distribution boxes. Damage to electrical systems had units and sections shut down for more than one day.

However, normal flying operations at the base then continued, with the aid of standby generators.

In the meantime, standby generators have also been deployed to supply electricity during certain hours to households in Braambos, after major losses of frozen foodstuff were suffered by staff members in the residential area, due to the long-term power failure.

Severe damage to a substation and four mini-substations in the residential area initially left 40 homes and 60 duplex units without electricity.

According to a media statement, another power failure damaged two more mini-substations in Braambos on 15 October, leaving a total of 234 houses and some 1 100 souls without electricity.

Although the Department of Public Works in Polokwane was immediately informed after the first power failure, it was slow in responding to the crisis. “Irrespective of several telephone calls by the approved electrical contractor and the chief technical officer of AFB Makhado to the regional office of the Department of Public Works [DPW], it was slow to respond to the magnitude of the failure and representatives only arrived on the premises of Braambos residential area on the morning of 17 October for an inspection of the extent of the damage. Although the SA Airforce already had 250 KVA generators in place by that time to be connected to the existing power grid of the affected areas, no such authority was granted by the DPW …” reads a media statement by the commanding officer of AFB Makhado, Brig. Gen. Schalk van Heerden.

According to the statement, initial indications are that the extent of the damage is such that the mentioned houses in the residential area will be left without continuous electricity for several weeks as spares and equipment need to be imported from abroad.

AFB Makhado already received two 250 KVA standby generators from other SAAF units and is awaiting the arrival of at least another two generators to provide electricity as an interim measure.

In the meantime, suppliers of electrical generators in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) have confirmed a significant increase in private sales of generators since the beginning of the crisis at the Braambos residential area.