Weekend storms leave parts of Western Cape without electricity

Large parts of the interior of the Western Cape did not have electricity on Monday after weekend thunderstorms caused the collapse of seven power line towers operated by Eskom.

The provincial disaster management centre is co-ordinating efforts to keep essential services and infrastructure running in affected areas including the Central Karoo, Garden Route and Overberg.

“As we do not have an indication of how long it will take to restore the power lines, we must plan for support to critical functions such as water, sewage, hospitals and schools in the affected areas for the next few days,” local government, environmental affairs and development planning MEC Anton Bredell said on Monday.

“The weather predictions for this week show heatwave conditions for the Central and Klein Karoo, as well as the possibility of further isolated thunderstorms. This adds complexity to the electricity outage as cold chains and water supply are more critical during these conditions.”

Affected areas in the Central Karoo include Leeugamka, Merweville, Laingsburg, Sutherland and Prince Albert.

In the Garden Route district, the town of Ladysmith is affected.

In the Overberg district, Napier and a substantial portion of the surrounding rural farming community, including the area between Wolwengat up to Pearly Beach, have been without power since Saturday evening.

“Support can be in the form of trucked in water, bottled water, generators for boreholes that provide drinking water, or generators for wastewater systems.

“We will be communicating directly with affected communities as information becomes available,” said Bredell.

Eskom ground crews are assessing the extent of the storm-related damage.

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