Africa-Press – South-Africa. More than 3 700 residents of Kraaifontein in Cape Town have been left without electricity due to cable theft and vandalism at Eskom’s Prospect Hill substation on Tuesday night.
Eskom’s Western Cape spokesperson, Kyle Cookson, said operators were on-site attending to the problem, but there was no estimation of when the power will be back.
Residents of Fisantekraal, Klipheuwel and Perdeberg were most affected. They were expected to be without electricity for a “prolonged duration due to significant damage to infrastructure”.
“We are appealing to members of the public to report electricity theft and vandalism of infrastructure,” added Cookson.
The power utility also urged its customers in the affected areas to switch off geysers and pool pumps during load shedding to prevent “cold load and pick-up issues”. It said customers should wait at least 30 minutes after electricity is restored to switch on household appliances to prevent the tripping of electricity.
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Ward councillor Ruan Beneke told News24 he was aware of the Eskom power situation, adding that cable theft and vandalism of equipment had become a serious problem in the area.
“Residents have become use to the cable theft and vandalism. It almost seems like the norm in the area, as cable theft seems to be on the rise in the area over the past couple of months,” he added.
According to Beneke, he has been keeping residents updated as information becomes available to him.
“We don’t condone any cable theft or vandalism in the area. At this stage, we don’t have any clear time as to when the power will be back on but we are hopeful that it will be soon,” he added.
Members of the public can report cable theft by contacting Eskom’s toll-free crime hotline on 0800 11 27 22 or their local police.
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