uMhlathuze probes string of substation fires
Officials in uMhlathuze are trying to get to the bottom of the fires that have recently broken out at some of the city's substations.
The fires have caused several power cuts.
In the early hour of Sunday morning, parts of Richards Bay were in the dark after a transformer was destroyed by a blaze at the Scorpio substation near the Hillside Smelter.
A month ago a transformer at the city's Polaris substation caught alight, cutting off electricity supply to the CBD and some suburbs.
"This is being investigated case by case by relevant authorities to ascertain the route cause," says municipal spokesperson Mdu Ncalane.
"It has been noted, however, that the electricity infrastructure is old and at times cannot manage the load.
"The city is planning to mitigate this through investing in new transformers, not only to replace the damaged ones but to stabilise the power supply in the whole city."
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