Midvaal transformer failure leaves 116 homes without power

A transformer failure has left 116 households in Lakeside Estate in Midvaal, Gauteng, without electricity since June, Health-e reported in a Nov. 2 news article.

The outage has created risks beyond lighting: the R1,500 per-household penalty now sought is one-quarter of the R6,000 Eskom first wanted, while residents described unsafe cooking, food-storage and medicine-refrigeration problems.

Eskom is South Africa’s state-owned power utility. Ward 6 councillor Thabang Sithole told Health-e that Eskom technicians inspected the problem in June and confirmed the transformer was no longer working.

The report was published days before South Africa’s municipal election on Wednesday. Atlas360 reported on Nov. 2 that the Electoral Commission had approved a record 2.65 million early voters for the two-day special vote, including 678,525 home visits and 1,976,542 station ballots.

For 53-year-old Moipone Mahonko, who is partially blind and lives with three children, the loss of electricity has made routine household tasks hazardous. “Before we lost electricity, I was not struggling because I could turn on the stove and cook or make tea. But now I struggle,” she told Health-e.

Mahonko said she has cooked outside over an open fire and suffered burns and cuts while trying to manage it. “When I try to fix my fire, I cut myself or get burnt because I can't see clearly. Sometimes I miss a step and fall.”

Health-e reported that Mahonko narrowly avoided a house fire in September after a candle fell onto her bed and her nine-year-old child noticed it. She also said her damaged gas cylinder requires her children to help open it with a knife.

The outage has added financial strain. Mahonko said she cannot refrigerate food at home and stores some items at a friend’s house in another block with power. “Without the fridge, I spend a lot buying relish more often, and it is expensive to live from hand to mouth,” she said.

Another resident, 80-year-old Gogo Monape, who has diabetes, told Health-e that the outage has affected her ability to store insulin. She said her daughter installed solar panels so she could keep the medicine refrigerated.

Sithole said Eskom told him repairs and new meter boxes would have been installed if affected households had been paying their electricity bills. He said Eskom reduced the penalty to R1,500 per household after negotiations and agreed to accept payment in instalments or in full.

According to Sithole, Eskom requires at least 60% of the 116 households to pay before electricity can be restored, equal to about 70 households according to Atlas360 calculations. He said that on Oct. 20 he received feedback from Eskom that fewer than 60% had paid.

Mahonko told Health-e she had not tried to pay because her grant money was insufficient. Health-e said it sent Eskom questions about the transformer failure, penalties and restoration timing, but had not received a response by publication.

Source: News article, Health-e via AllAfrica, Nov. 2, 2026