Conductor theft the cause of South Coast power outages
These criminal acts not only inconvenience customers but also pose a safety risk to the perpetrators and the community at large.
Recent electricity supply interruptions affecting areas between Shelly Beach and Uvongo have been caused primarily by incidents of conductor theft on the network.
In a statement released earlier today, Eskom said these criminal activities have caused significant damage to critical electricity infrastructure on the Oribi Margate 88kV overhead line, resulting in unplanned outages and delays in restoring supply.
Technical teams have worked continuously to repair the damage and reinstate electricity supply as quickly and safely as possible.
The area has experienced five major incidents since March 3 this year.
This has resulted in long interruptions as the construction work required to undertake the repairs to high voltage structures is quite labour intensive.
Eskom apologised for the inconvenience and disruption caused.
Eskom said it understood the impact that these outages have on households, businesses and essential services in the affected communities, and remained committed to improving the reliability and security of its network.
Following the latest incident of theft that occurred at about 01:30 yesterday – which Eskom teams duly attended to and restored supplies at 20:00 – another incident occurred only two hours later at 22:08, affecting customers between Shelly Beach and St Michaels.
Eskom teams are currently working to replace the stolen conductor and will restore supply as soon as possible.
Eskom strongly condemns the ongoing theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure, which continues to disrupt supply to critical services such as hospitals and other medical facilities, shopping centres, as well as communication networks.
These criminal acts not only inconvenience customers but also pose a safety risk to the perpetrators and the community at large.
Eskom security, together with local law enforcement authorities, are investigating the incidents and encourage members of the public to assist by reporting any suspicious activity to the Eskom Crime Line on 0800 112 722 or to the nearest police authorities.
*** TAKE NOTE
Customers are also advised of a planned interruption of supply between St Michaels and Port Edward on Saturday, 28 March 2026, from 08:00 to 18:00, which is necessary to undertake helicopter and specialised equipment repairs on two sections of the line.
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