7 Eskom powerline towers have collapsed in the Western Cape, since this Saturday evening.
Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said yesterday there are outages in large parts of the interior of the Western Cape, as a result of collapsed towers.
Areas affected include the Central Karoo, Leeugamka, Merweville, Laingsburg, Sutherland and Prince Albert, the Garden Route District, Ladysmith, the Overberg District, Napier and Wolwengat.
“As we do not have an indication on how long it will take to restore the powerlines, we must plan for support to critical functions such as water, sewage, hospitals, and schools in the affected areas for the next few days” said Bredell.
He also said a predicted heatwave for the Central and Klein Karoo as well as the possibility of further isolated thunderstorms, will axacerbate the situation.
The cause of the collapse of power lines is unknown.
Eskom said in a statement yesterday, it was attending to major faults affecting the Eastern Cape, in Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Chris Hani and OR Tambo Districts.