23/05/2026
Shoutout to our heroes! 🙌🚜🇿🇦
After we offered our support as farmers to help the Municipality with Eskom’s restoration efforts, the technical teams called us at Klein River Cheese at midday on Friday. They were 15 minutes away from the site where electricity poles had been knocked down in the 11 May storm, and urgently needed a digger and extra hands to get new poles into the ground.
We immediately called SSP Steelworks - Sandblasting - Farm Services for backup. Without hesitation, they left a busy site to dispatch their heavy machinery.
www.sspservices.co.za = legends
Within 30 minutes, teams were digging and prepping lines as the rain came down. Not even hitting rock-hard ground at 1.5 meters deep could stop them.
Following a quick change of teeth on the digger, the municipal crane trucks were raising new poles skyward, expertly guided by Eskom technicians.
After checking and fixing fuses on the remaining segments, power to the Klein River valley R326 segment - including Stanhaven - was fully restored by 8 PM ⚡.
Living with 12 long days without electricity and no ETR in sight, this became a story of true collaboration: a utility, local government, farmers, local business heroes, and neighbors all willing to pick up the phone, say YES, and roll up their sleeves.
Through all our challenges, South Africa never fails to inspire.
(we empathise that many areas are still offline and some places inaccessible; hopefully this type of collaboration and restoration can be repeated)
