Energy Incident Register
Register / Grid infrastructure / EIR-1393
← Back to the list
Grid infrastructureSouth AfricaEIR-1393

Transformer fire cuts water supply in Dysselsdorp

Oct 2022Published 28 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantThermal / fireProvisional
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersMedium confidence
supply cut for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Eskom

What happened

A 500 kVA Eskom transformer supplying the Dysselsdorp purification works caught fire and was destroyed. About 1,500 households in Dysselsdorp and rural areas east of Oudtshoorn, including Rooiheuwel, Vlakteplaas, Middelplaas and Oudemuragie, were left without water. Eskom said a mini-substation had caught fire because of storm damage, that only the water treatment plant was affected, and that electricity restoration was expected at about 6pm the day after the fire. The municipality said a team was travelling from Cape Town to install a replacement transformer and that water tankers would be arranged.

Contributing factors

Eskom said the fire followed storm damage. No separate technical finding is reported.

Lessons learned

  1. A water purification works fed by a single distribution transformer can leave a town without water if that transformer fails.
  2. Where storms are a known risk, operators should keep a spare transformer and a clear plan for a replacement crew.
  3. Water utilities should have tanker arrangements ready for the period before power to a treatment works is restored.

More lessons on weather and external hazards, from every incident on the register.

Source

IOL (iol.co.za)

Published 2026-09-28. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

See the register's stories first in Google: add it as a preferred source.

Chart to reuse with this story: Grid infrastructure incidents in South Africa, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

Grid infrastructure incidents in South Africa: 157 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

Substation and transformer fires: the counts, the latest entries and a free alert for the next one.

Browse the full register or submit an incident.