By EDN Reporter
The Eswatini Boundaries Commission (EBC) says the storm that hit the Kingdom on Friday night wreaked havoc on their infrastructure, affecting their operations.
Spokesperson, Mbonisi Bhembe said despite that, voting was still continuing.
“The infrastructure that was expected to be used for lighting and network to ensure the smooth running of the voting and counting processes was affected. This infrastructure would have allowed for the transferring and sending of data,” he said.
Bhembe added that they had a contingency plan in place for such incidents and everything will now be done manually.
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“Most of the stations have started working manually to ensure that by nighttime, we are already in sync and ensure this exercise is done properly. We are also trying to reserve power in our supplies which we will use when counting votes at night,” he said.
Bhembe mentioned that the storm set them back but this doesn’t mean “emaSwati should be deterred because everything will go smoothly and their right to vote will be implemented successfully.”
The storm wreaked havoc on Friday night and early hours of Saturday morning with several places without electricity and structural damage.
The storm has left the Mbabane – Manzini corridor and other places in the country in total electricity blackout. The storm left a lot of trees uprooted and blocked roads with some structures left without roofing.
Places like Spar Multi Save in Mbabane, houses by Pine Valley and Mountain Drive buildings sustained damage. In Matsapha, the UNESWA exam halls were also affected by the winds and several small businesses had their structures strewn along the road.
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The Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) issued a statement on Saturday morning updating their customers on the power outages. The company advised its customers of an increase in power outages following the windstorm.
The statement mentioned that these winds had affected their power supply in selected areas throughout the country.
“We have experienced tripped feeders, broken electricity structures, snapped conductors, blown HT fuses and damaged circuit breakers,” read a part of the statement.
The company further mentioned that they were doing everything possible to have the electricity restored within a reasonable time.
