Residents across Ventersdorp have been left without electricity for the majority of today (Monday, 8 June) following cable theft incidents at two separate locations, resulting in a widespread power outage affecting the entire area.
According to JB Marks Local Municipality, the outage was reported after cables were stolen, disrupting power supply to the Ventersdorp region. Eskom technical teams were immediately dispatched to the affected sites and are currently carrying out repairs.
JB Marks municipal spokesperson, Jeanette Tshite, said every effort was made to restore electricity as quickly as possible.
“The power outage affected the entire Ventersdorp area due to cable theft at two separate locations. Eskom technical teams are already on site attending to the matter and carrying out the necessary repairs.,” Tshite said.
The municipality has apologised for the inconvenience caused and appealed to residents for patience while repair work continues.
Pieter Steyn, VF Plus councillor in Ventersdorp, said that although power has since been restored, cable theft along the line supplying Ventersdorp remains an ongoing problem.
“The 56km power line running from Lichtenburg to Ventersdorp and Coligny has been targeted by cable thieves almost every second week since 2019,” Steyn said.
According to Steyn, the line passes through both private property and a large section of state-owned land, making it difficult to secure effectively.
“Eskom has deployed security personnel to patrol the route, but the area is simply too large. The thefts occur at three different hotspot areas on random days and times, usually between 22:00 and 02:00,” he explained.
He added that members of the public and first responders have, at their own expense, installed cameras along parts of the route to help identify where thefts are taking place.
“The cameras at least give us an indication of the areas being targeted. We are meeting again on 24 June with Eskom and other stakeholders to discuss solutions, as the public is reaching breaking point and there is already talk of shutdowns,” Steyn said.
