Eskom said it is working round-the-clock to restore power to Buccleuch and Waterfall after recent incidents of vandalism and theft.
Residents of Buccleuch and Waterfall in Johannesburg have been grappling with a five-day power outage due to network faults, as well as a spate of theft and vandalism.
Buccleuch power outage
The incident has prompted an all-hands-on-deck response from Eskom, with technicians reportedly labouring night and day to restore the power supply.
The power utility said the scale of damage to the electricity supply cables serving these areas is considerable.
I guess there are no govt ministers living in Buccleuch…— Cynthia Lewis (@lewisbabes) May 19, 2023
This, in turn, leads to a delay in power restoration for the affected customers. Despite the severity of the damage, Eskom said it’s all hands on deck.
Repairs are underway
Technicians have been at the scene since the blackout started and have made substantial headway towards completing the repairs, according to Eskom.
Eskom admitted that network faults are part of the issue, adding that recurring theft and vandalism of electricity equipment is only exacerbating the situation.
Please confirm Buccleuch will be EXCLUDED from loadshedding for the next five days, many of us lost alot of food and that’s our hard earned money down the drain.— Jaimie (@JaimieSigamoney) May 19, 2023
Eskom’s maintenance and operations senior manager in Gauteng, Mashangu Xivambu, said the power utility is strengthening its efforts to counteract frequent supply disruptions.
Restoration time
Xivambu also offered an apology for the inconvenience caused by the power outage, assuring residents that they anticipate restoring power by 2 pm this afternoon.
Xivambu said: “This is an attempt to safeguard not only against network faults but also against rampant theft and vandalism”.
He went a step further, urging the public to join forces with Eskom in this battle against infrastructure theft and vandalism by reporting incidents on 0800 112 722.
READ: Eskom won’t buy spares to fix units, says union official
