Fire that ravaged Pyramid substation linked to sabotage

The fire at the Pyramid substation that left parts of Rooiwal, north of Pretoria, without power and water was believed to be a blatant act sabotage.

- Marizka Coetzer

Local farmer Theunis Vogel said the City of Tshwane should declare the Hammanskraal as a disaster area.

"The Rooiwal sewage plant was in ruins, the Apies River in ruins, everything in Hammanskraal was in ruins. The power plant has been out of order for almost 13 years and now the substation burned down," he said.

Vogel said it was the third time the Pyramid substation had tripped and burned down.

"There were supposed to be two transformers but due to theft and corruption, the other part burned down, and the insurance payout was never used to rebuild it in five years," he said.

"Now they budgeted to rebuild it but it's been standing still for five months. When the other one burned down, they got it back up running in a month." Vogel said he anticipated they would be without power for longer than a month this time around because there wasn't another transformer available.

"More than 250 smallholdings are without water and power now," he said.