Electricity at the hospital was restored on Wednesday (14/5) after a transformer was installed in the town, allowing Embekweni hospital to benefit. 

During the outage, the hospital was operating on a generator. It’s understood that a faulty substation mainly caused the power cuts. 

This placed immense pressure on healthcare services and further strained an already ailing municipality. The lack of electricity caused serious challenges for the department, as essential budgets meant for patient care, medications, and food were diverted to manage the crisis.

“The Free State Department of Health is relieved to report that all systems are functioning well once again,” said Free State Department of Health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi. “Allowing us to refocus our resources on providing quality care to our patients.”

“We are pleased to announce that, following these efforts, the transformer at Zastron has been successfully installed, and the electricity supply has been restored to normal levels.” The Embekweni hospital is now benefiting from consistent electricity with correct voltage levels, resulting in brighter lights and improved operational capacity, he said.

Electricity at the hospital has finally been restored. Photo supplied

During his visit to the hospital on Tuesday, 22 April, MEC of Health Monyatso Mahlatsi facilitated interactions with the municipality and took proactive steps to remedy the situation by engaging with Eskom and the municipality to accelerate a resolution. 

“We extend our gratitude to all stakeholders involved in resolving this urgent matter and appreciate the patience of the Zastron community during this challenging time,” said Mvambi.

OFM News reported that the ANC in the Free State recently took political action by removing Mohokare Mayor Zingisa Mgawuli in April. ANC provincial spokesperson, Thabo Meeko, emphasised the party’s commitment to service improvement.

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“The ANC decided that the mayor of the Mohokare, comrade Zingisa, must be redeployed,” he said. Mgawuli was removed after a series of protests over the municipality’s inability to meet basic service delivery expectations.

The municipality, which includes the towns of Zastron, Rouxville, and Smithfield, has repeatedly failed to make salary payments, as well as payments to essential third parties, including medical aid providers, pension funds, and funeral policies.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame mvh