Storm leaves Morgans Bay, Kei Mouth high and dry

● Residents pitch in to clear brush so Eskom can restore damaged power lines

Frustrated and desperate residents of Morgans Bay and Kei Mouth had to take matters into their own hands to bring back water and lights after being without the essential services for almost a week.

After a storm that affected several towns in the Eastern Cape on Monday last week, some parts, including the two towns, were left without electricity due to damage to Eskom infrastructure.

The power outage affected water pump stations run by the Amathole district municipality.

The biggest hurdle for Morgans Bay and Kei Mouth was Eskom’s initial inability to access the damaged infrastructure on a farm.

Eskom confirmed that it had to apply for a permit to clear vegetation to start work.

On Friday, residents told how they’d had to endure days without water and electricity.

Their cellphone network coverage had also been disrupted.

Some pupils had to stop attending classes and the water and electricity outage also meant disruptions in healthcare services.

Residents rallied their resources to clear more than 700 metres of brush from underneath Eskom power lines after being told environmental permits were needed before technicians could attend to the fault.

Brendan Freitag, 42, owner of Kei Mouth’s Savemore shop, said people from Kimbali Farm, the Abalone Farm, a team from his store and others in town with chainsaws or access to equipment had got stuck in and cut down the bush themselves. The group of about 45 people started clearing almost 1km of growth under the lines and finished the job late on Friday afternoon.

“The Eskom guys were sitting in their cars waiting for us,” he said.

“They were saying the department of environment had to come in because there were indigenous trees, but it was mostly alien lantana and black wattle trees we cut down.

“We asked the farmer, who was very happy to give us permission, and we took it upon ourselves.”

Power and water has since been restored in Morgans Bay, but yesterday some areas in Kei Mouth were still without power and water.

On Thursday, Eskom said areas such as Port Alfred, Peddie, Kei Mouth, Morgans Bay, Butterworth, Mthatha and

Matatiele were also affected by power outages.

Yesterday, power had been restored to Morgans Bay and the Abalone Farm after the power utility secured environmental permits on Friday.

“We thank the affected customers for their patience during this period,” an Eskom statement said.

“Delays in restoring supply to the remaining customers are caused by further discoveries of damages on the line.”

In the seaside towns, residents walked up and down the main roads carrying empty 5l water bottles searching for businesses or tanks to fill them.

Winise Komani, 56, of Cwili village near Kei Mouth, was handwashing her clothes in a big basin after a water truck delivered fresh water to the village on Friday.

“It’s been four days now. I have a tank, but it’s only a quarter full,” Komani said.

“There are people with tanks because of the RDP houses, and we are all helping each other.

“The Cwili clinic has had no water. Most of the time the clinic suffers.”

Eastern Cape health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed the clinic was affected by the power outage.

Aviwe Vumani, 29, from Morgans Bay’s Incahra village was walking to fill up bottles at his work.

“There is absolutely nothing here. Even the tanks we had are running out,” Vumani said.

Landowner Frank Krull said Eskom had not been given proper permits by the environmental affairs and tourism department to cut down the brush on Thursday afternoon, so it could not fix the faults.

“The line runs over our property and at first they said they hadn’t got permission to go on the ground.

“They have their own key and lock,” Krull said.

“The next thing they said they couldn’t get in.

“I believe there are two breakages on our farm. The cables are hanging like spaghetti.”

After four days without water, Morgans Bay Ratepayers’ Association chair Peter Turner drove to BCM to pick up a hired 50KVA diesel generator to run the Morgans Bay water circuit on Friday afternoon.

“We are going to couple that up to the water circuit with permission from Amatola Water ...

“At this point the two reservoirs are empty. We need to fill those first,” Turner said.

Ratepayers contributed to the cost of the diesel, which comes to about R4,200 for 10 hours of its 200l capacity.