Electricity has been restored to several towns in the Central Karoo and surrounding regions after a power outage left members of the public with no power for almost two weeks.
The prolonged outage had left large parts of the Western Cape, including the Karoo, in darkness for the past 12 days.
In a video posted on social media on Thursday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said: “It has been a crisis. Food has been going off, people having other food security issues, so today is good news.”
Winde reiterated that affected residents should still use electricity wisely.
Families in these areas endured darkness since February 3, after severe weather wreaked havoc on critical infrastructure, including seven pylons.
Among the affected towns are Sutherland, Matjiesfontein, Laingsburg, Ladismith, Leeu Gamka, and Prince Albert.
Eskom teams worked around the clock to repair the damaged infrastructure to make sure they restore power by Thursday, a deadline which they set.
The restoration process commenced on Wednesday night, with the re-energising of the power line starting around 11pm. By early Thursday morning, the first of seven substations was brought back online, initiating the gradual process of restoring power to customers in the affected areas.
Winde, alongside officials from Eskom and the Western Cape government, confirmed on Wednesday that the reconnection efforts were progressed smoothly.
Winde extended gratitude to all involved parties for their dedication, acknowledging the challenges faced during this period. He thanked residents for their patience, recognising the difficulties experienced during the prolonged blackout.
IOL NEWS