The town of Winburg in the Free State is in the grip of a debilitating infrastructure crisis, with residents and business owners reporting that constant electricity outages and subsequent water cuts are crippling the local economy and making daily life unsustainable.
Frustrated residents describe an ongoing situation that has persisted for years, marked by significant financial losses and a concerning lack of communication from the Masilonyana Local Municipality. The community states that power failures are so frequent they have damaged household appliances and led to spoiled food almost every month.
“The municipality is not communicating any challenges that they are coming across in regard to electricity and water,” one resident said, highlighting a key point of contention. “This challenge doesn’t only affect us as Winburg residents, the whole municipality as a whole. Because if there’s no electricity in town, it means there’s no water in town.”
The outages are creating severe safety and welfare concerns, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable. Pensioners are forced to travel from Winburg to Theunissen to access their SASSA grants when local systems are down, incurring additional costs and hardship.
Local businesses are suffering devastating losses. A business owner explained the dire impact on operations, stating that perishable stock like meat rots during unexpected outages. “It’s killing the town because you can’t do anything… you can’t do nothing if there’s no water and power,” they said. While some resort to costly generators, the expense of fuel and limited freezer space means significant portions of inventory are still written off. “Our town is really [made up of] a lot of poor people, pensioners, and those people use that little money they’ve got to buy some stuff and then just to lose it all at the end.”
In response, the Masilonyana Local Municipality acknowledges the severe problems but cites aging infrastructure as the root cause. A municipal spokesperson explained that the current spate of outages is linked to underground cables that have been compromised by water infiltration.
“The municipality has just concluded a feasibility study which will form part of the business plan that we’re going to be submitting to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to request funding,” the spokesperson said. The municipality also noted it is installing a new substation to help stabilize the electricity supply.
The municipality asserts that it responds to faults as quickly as possible and keeps the community informed, but states these efforts are severely hampered by limited resources due to a low revenue base.
Despite these planned interventions, the people of Winburg say they are suffering now, with their livelihoods and welfare being eroded by a crisis that shows no immediate sign of abatement. The community continues to call for urgent, effective, and transparent action from local authorities.