After almost 2 weeks without power, central Karoo towns have electricity again
Some of the towns have been without power since 3 February when extreme weather conditions severely damaged critical infrastructure, including seven pylons.
Picture: Aekkarak Thongjiew/123rf.com
CAPE TOWN - Eskom has met its deadline to reconnect electricity in a number of towns in the central Karoo and surrounding areas.
Scores of families have been without power since 3 February when extreme weather conditions severely damaged critical infrastructure, including seven pylons.
Sutherland, Matjiesfontein, Laingsburg, Ladismith, Leeu Gamka and Prince Albert are among the affected towns.
The power utility said that meticulous planning was required to ensure that teams would meet Thursday's deadline.
While Western Cape government officials undertook disaster relief efforts, Eskom teams worked around the clock to fix the damaged infrastructure.
They set a target to have power back online by Thursday.
Eskom said that the sequence of re-energising the line started at around 11pm on Wednesday night.
The first of seven sub-stations was livened just before 6am on Thursday morning and the process of gradually restoring the supply to customers started soon thereafter.
The power utility said that customers in the affected areas would be exempted from load shedding until 26 February.