Welverdiend plunged into crisis as power outage sparks widespread protests
Since June 29, thousands of residents in Welverdiend, Khutsong Extensions 5 and 6, and the Elijah Barayi Mega Housing Project have been left without electricity after yet another failure at the Frikkie van der Merwe Substation.
According to the municipality, the substation's transformer tripped due to overloading caused by increased winter demand and also suffered an oil leak, requiring extensive factory repairs. Municipal Manager Dumisani Mabuza initially assured residents that a replacement transformer would be delivered by July 3, but the promised help never arrived.
Instead, the municipality later stated the transformer would only be ready by Saturday. However, residents were again left disappointed when they were informed that the equipment was still being repaired. A new contractor was eventually appointed due to 'delays and quality concerns' with the original contractor, but the municipality could not provide a timeline for completion. Officials said they were now considering three options: rewinding an available transformer, completing the final touches on the repaired one, or sourcing a temporary unit from external partners.
With no electricity and no clear answers, frustration boiled over. On Sunday morning, around 08:00, residents—many from communities not usually involved in protests—took to the streets, blocking the main road between Carletonville and Potchefstroom near the Welverdiend police station.
Unconfirmed community reports claim that three residents who relied on electrical oxygen machines have died as a result of the blackout.
Matters worsened on July 6 when a major water pipe burst in Welverdiend, leaving many residents without access to water as well.
By Monday afternoon, all major entry roads into Welverdiend, including the busy R501 crossing near the Elijah Barayi housing complex, were blocked. Protesters, including many schoolchildren, also obstructed roads in Khutsong Extension 5 and even began blocking railway tracks.
Amid the unrest, a controversial message began circulating that Mayor Nozuko Best had declared Welverdiend an 'unrest area', claiming it was too dangerous for municipal officials to enter. Senior police officers confirmed to the Herald that multiple attempts to get local ward councillors to address the crowds were unsuccessful.
'If the council did their work and didn't lie to us, none of this would be necessary. Lying to us all the time is criminal,' one angry resident posted on social media.
As of Wednesday—more than 10 days into the outage—power had still not been restored, and residents had received no new updates on when relief might come.
VF Plus councillor Ben van den Berg, himself a former Welverdiend resident, confirmed that his party had tried to engage Mayor Best for answers. A provincial VF Plus representative also contacted MEC for Cooperative Governance, Jacob Mamabolo, urging him to put pressure on the mayor to speed up the process.
The Herald reached out to municipal communications manager Temba Fezani for further comment, but no response was received by the time of publication.
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