Residents in the Western Cape whose neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness or where there were other electrical faults, due to inclement weather earlier this week, are urged to remain patient and to expect restoration times to take longer than usual.
The City of Cape Town’s Energy Directorate said it received more than 10,800 service requests since Monday. While the heavy rains and winds have since passed, teams remain on the ground repairing to assess the damage and carry out repair work. The City said more than 6,000 repairs have been carried out across the metropole thus far.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member, Xanthea Limberg, said all available teams have been dispatched.
“Our efforts continue and City teams fixed 6,221 storm related electricity faults out of 10,878 service requests across all areas. Our teams remain on the ground and are continuing to work across all areas to attend to all remaining requests,” said Limberg.
The southern region recorded the highest number of electricity-related complaints, with 4,760 service requests logged, followed by the northern region with 3,817 and the eastern region with 2,302. With that said, these figures are from Wednesday afternoon – the City advised that the figures often fluctuate due to new requests and others being resolved.
Limberg added that restoration efforts have been delayed in some areas due to the scale of the destruction and the complexity of repairs.
In several instances, damaged infrastructure has had to be completely replaced rather than simply turning the power back on.
“Several areas have already been restored, and our teams are attending to the remaining outstanding requests as a matter of urgency,” said Limberg.
Further to this, Limberg warned against logging the same service request multiple times, because that may cause further delays.
“We urge members of the public not to log multiple service requests for the same issue, as this creates duplication, increases administrative lead times, and further delays our response.”
At the same time, the City also urged the public to avoid exposed electrical infrastructure, including downed power lines, and to report hazards immediately through official service channels.
“Please report these incidents to the City [through official service channels] and our teams will attend to them as quickly and safely as possible.”
Meanwhile, technical teams with Eskom in the Western Cape are also facing significant challenges in addressing electrical faults.
The power utility on Thursday morning noted teams were still working to restore power in several areas in the Cape Winelands/Boland region, the Garden Route, Overberg/Overstrand and the West Coast.
“While the inclement weather has subsided in some areas, the aftermath of heavy rainfall, strong winds and flooding presents significant challenges with additional faults still being reported. Damaged infrastructure is currently being rebuilt to restore supply to affected customers. In some areas construction activities are delayed due to damaged roads and flooding limiting access to Eskom infrastructure.”
