Africa-Press – South-Africa. Eskom said its infrastructure in the Witzenberg Municipality in the Western Cape was severely affected by inclement weather over the weekend, leaving residents without electricity since Sunday evening.
In a statement on Monday, the power utility said lightning damage to its infrastructure left its customers in the Witzenberg towns of Ceres, Op die Berg, Prince Alfred Hamlet and some of its surrounding areas without electricity.
“Furthermore, the extreme weather conditions have created serious challenges for operators who have to navigate on difficult terrain to attend to faults, thus delaying restoration efforts,” it said.
Eskom said it could not estimate when electricity would be restored.
“Eskom urges affected customers to be patient and to treat all electrical appliances as live during this time,” it said.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a yellow level-2 warning last week, with severe thunderstorms and hail expected to make landfall.
SAWS said thunderstorms were expected in parts of the Northern and Western Cape, including the Overberg district, over the weekend.
The Witzenberg Municipality said in a statement that the lightning damage to the Eskom substation was “fairly severe”.
It said: “Apart from the obvious extensive visible damage, which will be repaired during the day, tests to confirm the integrity of the transformers and breakers, etc., are being carried out to determine if they can be safely re-energised or not. Either way, the best-case scenario is that power may be restored by around sunset if all goes well.”
The municipality said residents should brace themselves for another night without power.
“More inclement weather is also predicted for later on Monday, which may hamper repair operations. Meanwhile, Eskom officials are already hard at work to assess, repair and restore the power as soon as possible,” it added.
The municipality said it remained in close contact with Eskom regarding the matter, adding that “the urgency of the situation is well understood”.
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