Residents were evacuated on Sunday when the Jagersfontein dam burst. Emergency personnel responded to the scene.
As widely reported on Sunday, the road entering Jagesfontein in the Free State was completely flooded by a mudslide caused when a nearby dam burst.
Jagersfontein dam burst
At the time of publishing, emergency personnel rescued seven residents, and one person was reported missing.
Meanwhile, SABC News confirmed three people had passed away after their homes were swept away in the mudslide.
Residents are evacuating to nearby areas, and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s Nathi Shabangu said its inspectors will visit the site today.
Eskom has since confirmed it lost bulk supply to the Jagersfontein electricity distributor, but “aims to restore electricity supply before the end of the day”.
“Four Eskom customers on the Fauresmith-Spitskop feeder, three customers on the Pompie-Rietkuil feeder and the Jagersfontein Mine are without supply”, Eskom said on Sunday.
The Rietkuil substation was damaged during the mudslide, resulting in a total loss of supply to Centlec, Eskom added.
“Due to the current situation in the Jagersfontein area and inaccessibility of our substation, it is
impossible to estimate when supply will be restored or to determine the extent of the damage”.