Large parts of the Overberg were left without electricity following yet another incident of cable theft and vandalism, this time, disrupting power supply across the region.

Eskom said on Tuesday 6 October, that the outage is affecting customers in the Overstrand and Theewaterskloof local municipalities, as well as parts of Grabouw.

Technical teams were deployed to the affected area to assess the damage and determine the extent of the impact on the electricity infrastructure.

The power outage left the region powerless while heavy rain poured in the Overberg. “Eskom is aware of the power supply outage caused by vandalism and theft,” the power utility said.

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The outage comes as Eskom continues to warn communities about the impact of attacks on electricity infrastructure, which can disrupt supply and place additional pressure on the electricity network.

“Vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure are serious crimes and disrupt the power supply [and] affect communities,” Eskom said.

The utility urged residents to work with authorities to protect critical infrastructure and report any suspicious activity.

Eskom also warned customers to treat all electrical infrastructure as live, as electricity supply could be restored without prior notice.

The utility apologised to affected customers for the unplanned interruption. No further details about the nature or location of the damaged infrastructure, or the extent of the cable theft, have been provided at this stage.

However, power has since been restored in most parts of the region. Eskom said further updates would be issued as more information becomes available.