Just weeks after at least 16 incidents of copper theft, yet another one has plunged parts of the Overberg back into darkness.

This time, extending a wave of attacks in Fisherhaven, Vermont and Onrus River in a series that has repeatedly crippled electricity infrastructure across the Overstrand in recent weeks.

Eskom said that preliminary investigations revealed that the unplanned outage was caused after thieves allegedly stole two spans of copper conductor from the Hawston feeder, which is supplied from the Hawston Substation in the Caledon area.

The utility said the theft disrupted electricity supply to the affected communities and highlighted the growing impact of infrastructure-related crime on service delivery.

“Copper theft remains a scourge that continues to undermine service delivery, damage critical infrastructure and place lives at risk,” said acting Cape Coastal cluster general manager Promise Ntuli. “These criminal acts have far-reaching consequences for our customers, local communities and the economy.”

Ntuli added: “We call on all residents to work with us by reporting suspicious activities so that together we can protect essential electricity infrastructure and ensure a reliable power supply for all.”

Technical teams have been deployed on the site and are working to restore supply to feeders that have not yet been affected by the vandalism. Simultaneously, investigations to determine the operating sequences of the network protection system and to assess the full extent of the damage are currently underway.

Eskom says no estimated time for the restoration of power is available at the time of publication.

One of many

This latest incident comes amid a sustained assault on electricity infrastructure in the area.

Between 8 May and 15 June, at least 16 separate incidents of cable theft, vandalism and storm-related damage were recorded across Fisherhaven, Hawston and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. This caused repeated power interruptions for residents and businesses.

Eskom warns that copper theft not only interrupts electricity supply but also creates serious safety risks for the public and utility employees by damaging critical infrastructure.

The power utility urges residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity around electricity infrastructure to the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 11 27 22.

Further updates will be issued by Eskom as repair work and investigations progress.