Several southern parts of the country and areas receiving electricity through Nored were last night plunged into darkness after failing to meet the deadline that was set by NamPower yesterday.
The power cuts came into effect yesterday and will be experienced daily between 17h00 and 21h00 on Monday.
Some affected local authorities in the south include Rehoboth, Mariental, Tses and Gibeon.
The northern regions affected by severe power cuts include Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati, Ohangwena, Kavango East, Kavango West, and Kunene region.
Ondangwa Town Council issued a notice confirming severe power cuts to its customers.
The council’s spokesperson, Petrina Shitalangaho-Mutikisha in a notice confirmed the power outage at the towns.
On Friday, NamPower sent out a notice to inform the affected clients to settle their debt before yesterday. These entities are said to owe the company over N$1 billion.
Nampower’s spokesperson Tangeni Tangeni Kambangula could not be reached for comment yesterday. These clients, according to the power utility, are in breach of settlement terms in power supply agreements or have defaulted on extended settlement arrangements in place.
Hardap regional chairperson Gherson Dausab said Dausab said he was not surprised about the power cuts.
“That only shows we have been at the tail end of development for long, because the local authorities are at this moment trying to bring services and development to the southern regions.
“I must say we are pleading and trying to keep the boat afloat. So, we are not surprised at all. It only confirms that the two regions have been left behind in terms of development,” he said.
JUST IN TIME
In the meantime, the //Kharas region was able to ward off the looming power crisis at the last minute when it was forced to pay a total of six outstanding invoices valued at N$3,2 million.
This was confirmed by //Kharas chief regional officer Bennie Diergaardt.
“As the Kharas Regional Council we have sorted out the issue with NamPower. We have paid the outstanding money. We will not be affected. It’s only some regional local authorities that will be affected . . .
“Obviously our budget has been affected, because we pulled all our resources to settle our outstanding amounts, and we have shelved some of our plans,” he said. NamPower had said that fraudsters are using their debt-collection plan to scam customers.
The scammers are calling clients, informing them that their accounts are in arrears and that they should settle this or run the risk of power cuts, NamPower said. “NamPower would like to warn its customers and the public at large of the scam and caution that these phone calls do not originate from the company or its employees.”
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